Downfall of the Light 1
by OpposingForce
Summary: Chapter 19 uploaded! Naruto left Konoha since the age of 5. At 12, he returns and takes on the chunnin exam with Hinata and Sakura. Has his return made a turn for the worst? What is his relations with Hinata? NaruHina and SasuSaku. Story is COMPLETE!
1. He's Here

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 1: He's Here._

Disclaimer: I so don't own Naruto, I wish I did though (sob...) Every character here belongs to the original creator, that's unless I made my own. Oh yeah, I don't own Warcraft either!

Summary: Naruto left the village of Konoha at the age of 5. Now 12, he returns and takes on the genin exam with the rookies. How much has he changed? Pairings, you have to read and find out. First Fic, have mercy on me! R&R!

**AN: I am a Warcraft3 addict so the story I have here is based on some/most of the magic and sorcery came from that. I especially used Paladins and Death Knights since it is such an excellent contrast between light and dark. I hope you all enjoy this story, if you don't like this idea, tough luck. Like I said, this is my first fic so please try to be considerate. Hope you enjoy the story! One last thing before you read my story, this author would act like a soldier. If you play HalfLife Opposing Force, you will know why I do this. Once again, this is my first fiction so if there are any mistakes, please take it kindly and don't flame. IF you insist to flame, feel free but back it up with evidence. Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy this.**

Legend:

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scenario Change is listed in the bold italics.

_**(Somewhere in the east wing of the Hyuga estate)**_

This day was just like any other day in June, it was warm, the sun was shining ever so finely to the people living under it. Most importantly, all the civilians in Konoha were enjoying this day. Hyuga Hinata, a young girl with short navy blue hair with lavender eyes, the unique thing about them was they had no pupils. As mentioned before, currently she was sitting by her window sill watching the civilians do their daily routines whether it was work or morning exercises. The girl was told that most of the civilians weren't worthy of her noble Hyuga clan who held the strongest ninja bloodline in Konoha. Despite her powerful bloodline, she never felt she was any better than the regular people, she believed that if anyone had the decision of choosing their paths, they would want to have a life like hers, one with a powerful advanced bloodline ability and the social stability.

Another reason why she never looked down on people was the fact that she wasn't that strong as a ninja herself. Unfortunately, she was considered a reject in her clan because she was so weak. In a noble clan, being weak was something intolerable. When she stood in a position of being so fragile, who was she to judge others? That was what she kept telling herself. She never considered herself as one who had the potential, she looked down on herself so often that her closer relatives were beginning to worry. Her father and her older cousin Hyuga Neji could see that hidden potential, yet she was always so unconfident of herself.

Her ability the Byakugan that was passed down by the Hyuga bloodline, allowed her to see the enemy's chakra system, tekensu, chakra flow and a nearly 360 degree angle of vision. If the user was more advanced, they could use those eyes to read other people's thoughts by simple actions. She hated her eyes. The Byakugan focuses chakra to the eyes causing your veins to be filled with energy. The blood vessels lump out visibly and her eyes turn into something that was as clear as a mirror, it looked absolutely horrifying. Hinata went over to her mirror, which she did everyday, and looked at her lavender eyes. She hated them, she thought, they looked so much different from the other peoples' eyes. Her father kept telling her that her eyes and the entire Hyuga clan's eyes are unique but the heiress never believed any of those words. It wasn't uniqueness, it was something that made people fear even more. There were so many times that she wanted to blind herself than to have these objects of vision, after she was blind, she wouldn't have to see these damnable eyes again. However, she could never do it, something always held her back. The reason was the two pictures on her shelf.

Hinata walked to her bookshelf and took a look at the two most treasured pictures she had. One of them was a class picture when she was five and the other one was taken on a school trip on the same year. The second one, she was in the picture with a certain blonde hair boy. The expression she showed on the picture was much different than the look she carried now. Hinata, now twelve turning thirteen in a several months frequently looked at these two pictures when she needed reassurance in life. The class photo consisted of the entire class but there were eight people that she knew the best.

Haruno Sakura: A girl with long pink hair and emerald green eyes. Very attractive nowadays for a twelve year old and surprisingly, she had a Sakura fan club at the academy. The members obviously were guys no matter they were good looking or not. She always rivaled with her former best friend Yamanaka Ino for the love and attention from the number 1 rookie in class, Uchiha Sasuke. She was a girl with high intelligence, it was no surprise when she got one of the top grades in the class.

Yamanaka Ino: A blond hair girl that had even longer hair than Sakura. She has light blue eyes and was equally or even more attractive than Sakura. Sakura's former best friend now a rival and a Sasuke fan girl. Those two compete about everything, it was a scary scene to watch. Her grades in school were definitely considerable. In terms of ninja skills, she even excelled Sakura. However, Ino always had a tendency to overdo things.

Uchiha Sasuke: The best looking guy and the best rookie in class, which caught all the girls' attention within the academy. He had raven hair and onyx eyes. Even the younger and older kids adore him. He had a fan club against his own will, Hinata really pitied him for this kind of suffering. He was very strong in all aspects in the academy from book smarts to ninja techniques. Pretty cold to many people, probably the reason that his cooperation skills was nearly at the end of the food chain. Reason of his coldness was directed to his fan club that he didn't want to have in the first place, but he was kind to Hinata since she was the only person who never bothered him.

Nara Shikamaru: A average looking guy with a ponytail and black hair. He complained about almost everything in life, which somewhat bugged Hinata when she heard him speak that way. He was very lazy and didn't get the greatest marks in class since he believed it was too troublesome to even move a pencil. He only got motivated if he really had to which was real troublesome to him. When it came to grades, oh goodness, he showed no skill whatsoever in any aspect. What surprised Hinata was how he still managed to pass every year, she knew his potential was locked elsewhere.

Inuzuka Kiba: Hinata's friend who was a natural beast master. He was brash, loud, and most importantly cocky. But he was always there for Hinata and his other friends whenever they needed him. More of a troublemaker than a student, his mischievous behaviours were really starting to rub off on Shikamaru and Hinata.

Aburame Shino: Hinata's cool and silent friend. He never talked much and you will only hear him speak unless he has to. He wore a pair of sunglasses and a long green coat. Hinata knew that he was a very nice person to be with, she just had to open up to him a bit more.

Akimichi Chouji: A chubby boy who loved to eat all the time. Hinata never used the word fat in front of him, or even that word to describe him since he could get very emotional when he heard that. He was Shikamaru's close friend. If people see a Chouji without food, anyone would assume someone transformed into him. Who would want to do that though?

Uzumaki Naruto: A blond hair boy who wore bright orange clothes and pants. Personally, Hinata thought that wearing such clothing as a shinobi was basically telling the enemies that he wanted to be shot down first. Naruto was the number one dropout of the class. He may be a dropout but somehow he was Hinata's support and comforter and best friend who she had affection for. An energetic boy who had always been there for her and never gave up at anything, he was one with much determination. Not knowing why, Hinata noticed that everyone hated him including some of the kids in the academy. He always made trouble at the academy just to get some attention. She knew underneath that troublemaker was a caring young boy.

"Naruto-kun..." she whispered to herself as a few tears came from her eyes. It has been seven years, nearly eight since that day Uzumaki Naruto left the village of Konoha. She has never seen him since and she missed him so much. She started to cry without knowing. The two pictures had something in common, both pictures had her and Naruto in it, that was the reason she kept it.

She loved him ever since the day he became his friend, he was her first true friend and she still loved him now. Hinata was broken ever since seven years ago when she heard her best friend had left the village with a mysterious man. Iruka-sensei was the one who told her specifically after Naruto has been missing school after four days consecutively. She thought it was a lie, Naruto would never have left like that. She was in denial but she knew it was true when the boy didn't show up after two weeks straight. She would do anything to see him again. Instead of dwelling in her own self pity and misery, the Hyuga heiress decided to head outside to take a breath of fresh air.

"Hey, where are going?" asked a voice as Hinata was putting on her sandals. The voice belonged to Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi.

"Oh, I was just going out for a walk," said Hinata giving her sister the best smile she could make. The little Hyuga knew better, she hated her sister's fake smiles. It wasn't that Hanabi disliked her, no, she respected her but those smiles made her look so depressed as if she was trying to hide something.

"Really? Okay just don't come back too late, father wouldn't like that."

"I know, I'll be going now."

"Later. Oh yeah, the genin exam is tomorrow, don't forget that!" called Hanabi as Hinata continued to walk closer to the main gates. As the older Hyuga girl walked out of the Hyuga estate, her smile turned into an immediate frown. Genin exam, how much she didn't want to take it. The exam was tomorrow and she had no confidence to take it. She was afraid of failure. In addition, she didn't want to be a disgrace to her family anymore than she already had. This genin exam would just be another scar to her reputation and status in her family. She sighed sadly as didn't even bother to care for where she was heading to, and ignoring everyone who walked passed her. Did anyone make any greetings? They might've but Hinata was in no mood to and too depressed to care about anything.

She somehow found herself at a park and looked around with her damnable eyes. She sighed again and made her way to a park bench and sat there alone. On her left, she saw a playground where some of the village children were playing without worries, not needing to care about anything painful in this world. How she envied them.

"Oh, Naruto-kun..." she murmured to herself. "What would you do at a time like this? I am so lost without you..." Tears formed in her eyes again and she began to cry once more. However, little did she know that the one she loved was not as far away from her than she had imagined, at that moment, the 3rd Hokage was ready to meet with him at the West Gate of Konoha.

_**(Meanwhile at the Hokage's office)**_

"So, it's already that day..." said the Third Hokage of Konoha to himself as he looked at the calendar that was sitting on his desk. He then opened a drawer and searched for a letter from inside. As he opened it, a smile came across his face as he remembered what kind of news it contained. It has been nearly 8 years since that tragic incident, he deeply hoped that the victim that survived it was okay. The last time he saw him gave him so much regret and pain. He just hoped that boy would be able to see light once more in his eyes.

_**(At the West Gate of Konoha)**_

The 3rd Hokage was waiting patiently at the west gate for his student to return. It has been almost eight years since the boy left with his student Jiraiya. He just hoped that the boy was able to accept this place once again. He was excited to a certain extent when he heard sounds from the other side demanding entrance to the village. The old man Hokage recognized the voice immediately, it was Jiraiya, he had finally returned. In a matter of seconds, the gate opened just to reveal Jiraiya outside waiting for the gate to allow him passage.

"Jiraiya," greeted the 3rd giving a hug to his former student. "I'm so glad to see you again."

"Likewise, Sarutobi-sensei." said Jiraiya with a chuckle. "Looks like you have really aged, old man."

"Can't you refer to this as potential?"

"Potential?"

"Yes, since I am still taking on this job even though I am old."

"You never cease to surprise me, Sarutobi-sensei." stated Jiraiya with a soft laugh.

"Yes, where's the boy? Where is Naruto?"

"Strange, he was just behind me just now... don't worry, I'll call him. Naruto, get your butt over here!" Suddenly a dark figure appeared right beside Jiraiya at that split second. Not only his appearance, but his speed amazed the Third. His impression of the boy had certainly increased.

"You called?" asked Naruto to his sensei not very brightly in cheerfulness. The 3rd was shocked at the boy in front of him. Obviously, he had grown much after these seven years. He was now wearing black jeans, with a black vest and a dark coloured jacket with bandages that wrapped around his right hand to his right arm. He didn't wear sandals, he wore boots of another dark colour, mostly black. Now for his physical appearance, he no longer had peach like skin, it looked a little lifeless but still looked human to a certain extent. The peach colour had dulled. What shocked the Hokage the most was definitely his hair, it wasn't blond, it was pure silver. He had no idea how this happened but it really looked familiar. To catch more of the 3rd's attention, he eyed the weapon that Naruto was carrying, it was a mystical runeblade. His eyes narrowed immediately at the aura that was giving out seemed dark and demonic, he could feel it in the bottom of his veins. As the boy sheath back his deadly blade, the Hokage could feel an enormous amount of power coming from Naruto. It was incredible. "Jiraiya-sensei, what is it that you called me for?"

"That was fast, Naruto." said the 3rd kindly.

"Thanks for the compliment." replied Naruto politely. If the Hokage knew Naruto well, he would know the boy was not saying this sincerely. It was rather a sense of habit that he developed.

"Naruto," said Jiraiya introducing the old man before the boy. "This is the 3rd Hokage."

"So you're Hokage-sama, sensei has been talking a lot about you for as long as I can remember."

'_At least this boy has a lot of manners. Jiraiya, you have taught him very well.'_ thought the Third proudly. Naruto broke into a smirk when he heard the Hokage's thoughts on complimenting Jiraiya, he obviously could hear his thoughts as clear as day.

"I think you are giving my sensei too much credit, Hokage-sama," said Naruto which caught the two old men's attention. "Sensei taught me no manners, I 'developed' them myself when Jiraiya got caught by the women at the hot spring baths. I, being the student, always had the use the most correct words to save his sorry..." The boy didn't even finish since Jiraiya clapped his mouth halting him in an instant. With his hands crushing his nose, Naruto soon began to flail his arms violently.

"Jiraiya..." began the Third with a fake cough. "You didn't contaminate his mind, did you?"

"Of course not, Sarutobi-sensei," replied Jiraiya nervously. "I would never ever do such a thing..." Naruto then freed himself from that hold and gave a hoarse cough.

"Whatever..." said the silver hair boy emotionlessly. "I'm here to take the genin exam, I have no time for games."

"Of course, Naruto. The exam will take place at 9:30 at the ninja academy. You still remember where it is, right?" Naruto silently nodded. "Just don't be late or Iruka wouldn't like it."

"Iruka-sensei is still teaching there?"

"Yes, and he has become quite a popular teacher there. Are you excited to see him again?"

"Not as much as I thought." answered Naruto bluntly. (AN: He hasn't seen Iruka for many years, of course they never developed any kind of strong friendship. In this story, he could really care less about how Iruka thinks of him. To Naruto, Iruka is just like an aquaintance.) "Well, thanks anyway. I'm going to scout around the village to familiarize myself to this place again."

"Can't you do it later?" asked the Hokage kindly but the boy avoided his eyes deliberately.

"Why later?" questioned Naruto with suspicious eyes.

"I was thinking that we could have a time to catch up."

"No need to do something that pointless, there is nothing worthy to catch up." Jiraiya and the Hokage were taken quite aback at that statement. Knowing the boy's changed personality a little, the Third found no reason to even trying to make a conversation.

"Well, if you say so..."

"Jiraiya-sensei, mind if I leave?" asked Naruto quite annoyed.

"Sure thing." replied Jiraiya with a nod. The young teen just smiled and disappeared in a flash.

"Jiraiya, I would like to talk to you," said the Third no longer detecting Naruto's presence nearby. "What kind of technique did he just use?"

"A teleporting technique called Blink that allows him to warp a distance up to 500 metres. It's a cunning technique that was taught by his sempai, Uchiha Itachi."

"So, how has Itachi been doing?"

"He's doing fine, I've heard from him that Orochimaru has left the Akatsuki organization. The Akatsuki doesn't suspect a thing that Kisame and Itachi are spies sent from Konoha."

"Either way, let's discuss this at my office." With a nod, he two old men then left for the Third's office for some further discussion.

_**(In the streets of the village)**_

Naruto walked around the streets of Konoha just to familiarize himself from his seven-year absence. He expected the cold stares from the villagers once again but luckily for him, most people didn't even recognize him. It didn't matter if they did, he knew he was much more stronger than them, he was stronger than anyone could ever imagine. It has been six years since his demon master Kyubi granted him power to him, the power was the demon's chakra. The boy gladly accepted the offer and absorbed all the chakra willingly. His chakra was now demonic and deathly green. The demon's effect had no drawbacks, it strengthened his body by a demonic corruption, making him reducing chances of internal bleeding and injuries and giving him much more physical strength. Not only that, Naruto contained both demonic blood and demonic chakra in his internal system. The deadly evil chakra had changed his appearance greatly. His body is at least two years more mature than it should be, he looked very manly both mentally and physically. His silver hair was a sign of what he has become, he became one of the fallen champions of the Uzumaki clan, a Death Knight.

In the Uzumaki clan, there were people who were Paladins or traitorous Death Knights. Paladins were better known as demon hunters who hunted down evil spirits or demons. To be more precise, they were a clan who had the ability to manipulate demons by sealing these diabolical beings within themselves or into other humans. Having this ability, the controller of the demon could control and wield the demon's powers in battles or learn the abilities the demon once knew. Powerful warriors of the light have the strength of two beings, a normal person clearly had a hard time to take these men out if they possessed no additional advantage of their own. These champions were once praised people of Konoha and they still would be if there were any left. To be accurate, the Uzumaki clan was a reckless clan who wanted more power from demons. Not everyone had the potential to wield a demon. They had the ability but they don't have the spirit potential to handle it. The demon's influence might have been too great and they took over their minds. That was how Death Knights came to be.

Death Knights were the evil counterpart of the human Paladin. Their demon master granted them power and what they expect back was loyalty. After being corrupted, they followed the demon's every command, from running away from their family to killing a rival clan. Unfortunately, many of the Uzumakis didn't have the potential to control the beasts within, they had become Death Knights who fled from Konoha and became potentially dangerous missing-nins. These dark warriors used powerful vampuric runeblades to do their bidding, a gift that their demon master willingly offered. Their source of strength came from the darkness and hatred towards the light. In other words, Paladins were champions of the light while these treacherous Death Knights were lieutenants of the darkness.

In order to fight against a demon, Paladins were sent out to hunt down these Death Knights since no one else had the capabilities to overcome them. As the Paladins fought on their counterparts, they were overpowered by the new abilities that the demons possessed. Undoubtedly, this was passed on to their apprentices. The Uzumakis fought against one another while Konoha and its allies hoped for the good news. Tragic news was sent for most of their holy warriors had been ruthlessly slaughtered, all the villages grieved for their lost. With no one to stop these demonic controlled beings, they lived a life their masters ordered them to; razing village after village, killing and consuming souls from the innocent and many other despicable events. As these nightmare riders began their onslaught on the Hidden Villages itself, it took nearly the entire population to take one Death Knight down. After many sacrifices and ruthless combat, all of these evil Paladin counterparts were killed and finally wiped out. Konoha hated every corrupted Uzumaki, at that time only one person in that legendary clan survived, the Yondaime, the 4th Hokage.

The 4th was a true champion of the light, one who had a powerful evil demon himself, but now tamed and control all because of the 4th's kindness. The Uzumaki bloodline not only allowed them to capture demons, it also granted an ability to see them called the Unholy Sight or the Sight of Dedication. If anyone believed that detecting demons was the only ability this technique possessed, they were only scratching the surface. Unholy Sight could read thoughts of anyone the user desired, read chakra levels around them and also a clear vision through objects. This clear vision just allows you to see through limited things, the Byakugan's ability in vision was much efficient beyond expected standards.

Naruto was a Death Knight, one who had one the most powerful demons inside of him, he wielded powers beyond anything within your imagination. He wasn't a genius, he worked hard to achieve the strength he had but of course with his master aiding him all the way. He walked past the villager with a deadly smirk on his face, these villagers would pay for what they did to him. He had sworn revenge after that incident, he won't back down from those words for suffer and torment was all Konoha rightfully deserved.

_**(Time passes)**_

The last Death Knight in this world, Uzumaki Naruto, was currently looking for his apartment. He had the keys in his jacket pocket but somehow he couldn't exactly remember where it was. _'Damn, am I having a case of memory loss already?'_ he scolded himself mentally. He soon came across from a familiar park, he frowned as he arrived. Memories came to his mind, he remembered he came to this park when he was a kid. He had fun most of the time, but he usually found parents taking their kids away from him as he arrived leaving him all alone again.

He clutched his hands turning into a fist of anger, he will have his long hated vengeance. Somehow, at the back of his mind, he had memory of a girl with beautiful lavender eyes. What was so special about them was that she had no pupils, however, that suited her perfectly. The words she used to describe them puzzled him, he sincerely believed those eyes made her look beautiful. When he thought about it with more consideration, undoubtedly he had to admit that she was gorgeous.

Not really remembering the identity of this girl, he somehow knew she was his only true friend. Oh, how badly he wanted to remember her name. He mentally cursed himself even more for not remembering such a person who showed him kindness. The silver hair boy shook that thought of guilt of his mind as he observed his surroundings. The park hadn't changed much, the trees had certainly grown, the playground seemed to have rusted up a little but everything else appeared the same. Instead of wasting time doing pointless sightseeing, he ventured deeper into the park hoping to reach the destination, his old home. However, that was when he saw a navy blue hair girl sitting on the bench with her hands clasped on her face, she was obviously crying. Naruto shook his head slightly and decided to walk past her pretending he didn't see her at all. Unknowingly, he stopped after a several meters and glanced back.

'_What am I doing?'_ he asked himself in his mind. _'Why should I even care? I don't know her, and she doesn't know me. I'm not going to bother.'_ Even though his mind told him that, his body didn't respond the same way. The silver hair boy went back to her and decided to sit next to her while mentally yelling at himself for doing so.

"Miss, are you okay?" asked Naruto kindly. No response came from the girl. "Is there something that you want to tell anyone?" The girl gave no sign of recognition. Naruto could see she was really down. "I don't know what is upsetting you but if you want to cry it out, do so." The girl stopped sobbing for a sec and one of her eyes caught his appearance, she could tell it was familiar but she couldn't recall who it was. "Crying out would be a lot better," he continued. "If you want to cry on me, you are more than welcome to do so, _'WHY DID YOU SAY THAT, BAKA?! You know you always have no idea what to do when a girl cries!'_ hiding things within your-... oof!" The girl launched herself at him immediately and cried into his chest. Naruto really didn't know what to do, he did what he felt best for her and took her into his arms. He embraced her gently as she continued to cry louder. Now he was curious about why she was so upset, he activated his bloodline ability trying to read her thoughts, however, he found nothing, her mind was filled with mixed emotions. He sighed as he stroked her back hoping she would feel better.

"Hey, it's okay," comforted Naruto with the best of his ability which didn't seem to cut it. "It'll be fine."

"No, it won't..." she said while she sobbed not looking at him.

"What is actually wrong?" he asked with a little concern. "I ain't gonna force you to tell me, but if you tell me I can promise you it would be safe with me. Trust me on this one. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, what's yours?" That name perked her ears, did he just say Uzumaki Naruto? She immediately pulled herself together and broke the warm embrace. She looked at him carefully and firm, the dark shinobi blushed slightly when he saw her beautiful face, he couldn't feel anything but awkwardness.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked trying to confirm if this was a dream. The boy in front of her certainly looked like him. His clothing may be different from before but the whisker marks on his face were still there but only much fainter and his eyes were the same ocean blue colour she always loved. His hair was silver, his skin was a paler colour that suited his hair perfectly. Her eyes filled with tears once again.

"You... you are..." Naruto recognized her eyes immediately. His eyes widened a bit, it was the same eyes as the girl she remembered, lavender and no pupils. Her haircut was the same too, then her name suddenly popped into his head like magic. "You are Hyuga Hinata..."

"Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed as she projected herself at him unable to control her emotions.

"Hi-Hinata-chan, wait! OOF!" He stood up but she approached him hard. He fell backwards to the grass with a girl on top of him hugging him passionately not ever wanting to let go. She was crying again but this time it was tears of happiness and joy. He hugged her back wrapping his hands around her waist, she was warm and it felt right. The two were in that position for a several minutes before the Death Knight realized what kind of inelegant position they were in. If someone saw them, they would think the two teens were madly making out. Naruto sat back up into a sitting position but Hinata was still embracing him and groaned when she felt his arms leaving her. When she reluctantly broke the hug, she refused to remove her hand off of his arm. Naruto knew she didn't want to let go at all but he had to make her let go sooner or later. When Naruto tried to remove his hand, she shook her head giving him the sign to allow her to continue what she was doing. The Death Knight sighed in defeat.

"I can't feel my arm, Hinata-chan" stated Naruto slowly. She loosened the grip hesitantly and her face showed disappointment. To make her feel better, he held her hand softly which made her blush like a tomato. Naruto smiled at the sight, Hinata always blushed, it was like her trademark. Suddenly, she hugged him tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Without Hinata knowing, Naruto blushed a bit. He couldn't believe she just kissed him. _'She's just too happy.' _He thought not considering anything else.

"Naruto-kun... I missed you so much..." said Hinata sincerely. Her voice made him melt.

"You missed me?" he asked wondering why.

"Of course I did... you are my best friend... of course I would miss you!"

"I missed you too..."

"Why did you leave?" she asked suddenly breaking the embrace. Her voice was serious.

"What?" That was all Naruto could muster at the sudden change of emotion.

"You heard me," she continued with more force. "Why did you leave? Why?"

"I... I can't say..." he replied sadly.

"Why? Why Naruto-kun, why can't you tell me?" She was now angry, he had never seen her like this before. "You left... and you didn't tell me that you were leaving! You made me wait for you for so long... Did you think about those who you would leave behind? Those who care about you?"

"There is no one who cares about me, Hinata-chan." retorted Naruto bitterly. "What is there for me to care about?"

"What about me?" asked Hinata timidly and sadly at the same time.

"Hinata-chan..."

"Answer me, Naruto-kun... did you think about me?"

"I..."

"Did you even care about me?"

"I... I did feel guilty for leaving you..." he answered truthfully. "But you won't understand why I left."

"Yes, I would!" she said rather loudly. "You can tell me!"

"It's forbidden to let anyone know, it's a direct order from Hokage-sama."

"Please tell me... you have my word that I won't tell a single soul." She was persistent, the Death Knight couldn't blame her though, he has been missing for nearly eight years. She was the only person who truly cared for him. Pain showed in her eyes, he knew he was hurting her by not telling her. Hinata cared deeply for him.

"I can't do that, Hinata-chan... Even though you say you would understand, I know you wouldn't."

"Try me." she stated clearly. Her eyes were surprisingly demanding, it was a side of her that he never remembered. The Hinata he knew long ago was a shy little girl who thought of others more than she thought of herself. As his eyes observed her, he could sense the true intentions behind it.

"Fine," said the Death Knight finally with a sigh. She brightened up, it was an immediate response. "Hokage-sama didn't say anything about me telling anyone. However, before I start I want you to prepare what I am telling you." She nodded and gave all her attention to him. "Okay, it all started two weeks after the trip with Iruka-sensei..."

**AN: A long chapter done at last. There were a hell lot of mistakes, glad I revised them. I certainly had fun writing this. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I wonder what Naruto is going to tell Hinata. Smart readers would know it's nothing good. NO, I mean his story isn't good, not my story is bad! (Flails arms viloently! WHEW!) If you have any comments or questions, I would be more than happy to hear them out. Just don't bother asking stuff like is Naruto or any of the main characters are going to die or anything in that category. I simply won't respond to it. Read and Review! Chapter 2: Past of the Exiled. Man, if I make it out of this alive, I'm gonna buy you all a round of beer (Coke or Pepsi or anything non-alcoholic if you are underage). Better yet I will buy the whole damn bar!**


	2. Past of the Exiled & Jutsu List

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 2: Past of the Exiled_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I only own this story-line... I got nothing! (Curses and sulks sadly) I only made it because... make it simple, it was fun. Don't sue me! If you sue me there will be no story!

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scene Change are in bolded italic brackets if you people need to know.

**AN: I thank you all so much for reading this, you have no idea how glad I really am to see so many people happy! I wish I could be happy though... being a soldier is never as easy as it seems. For those people who have reviewed, I have to thank you with the bottom of my heart. Your words really made my day, it helped me to continue writing. I'm so happy that so many people like this first fic of mine. I hope it's good enough since this is my first fic. Those who reviewed, you know who you are nd I will show my gratitude by giving you all this chapter. Enjoy!**

"I will tell you, Hinata-chan," warned Naruto sternly. "What you are about to hear isn't something pretty." Hinata gave him the look, the 'talking me out of it is inevitable' look. Naruto knew that expression too well, Hinata always gave him that stare when she wanted something out of him. He sighed in defeat. Hinata just smiled at that sigh, she knew she won over him, just like old times. "Also, you are not allowed to tell anyone else about this unless I say so." Once again, the Hyuga girl nodded promptly and gave him a promising smile. Naruto had to face the facts, this girl never disappointed him in anything. "Okay, this all started shortly after the field trip we had with Iruka-sensei, around a week or two..."

_**(Flashback)**_

"Okay, I'll see you later Hinata-chan!" said Naruto at five years old waving goodbye to his only friend.

"I had a fun time, Naruto-kun..." responded a five-year-old Hinata blushing. Like mentioned before, it was like her trademark. "You still want to play with me... tomorrow?" she asked timidly not wanting a rejection.

"Sure I will, Hinata-chan!" answered Naruto energetically. "You are my best friend, why wouldn't I play with you?" He then gave Hinata a reassuring hug that made Hinata blush like a strawberry. It was something that kids would do and wouldn't feel embarrassed about it. She wanted that hug to last forever, she liked him a lot ever since they became friends. Obviously she never told him that. However, she made signs that sent the message. Sadly enough, he was too dense to understand it immediately. Soon, the boy broke the hug and took off leaving a shocked and blushing girl behind. When Hinata regained her senses, she skipped happily home. However, little did they know a band of villagers were watching their little act the entire time. Their eyes were filled with pure hatred and fear, who they were watching wasn't the little Hyuga heiress, it was the boy. Then it was decided, the 'act' would commence that night, it would be end of that feared demon.

_**(Naruto POV:)**_

That night, I was running back to my apartment with a delighted smile on my face, it was a true genuine smile unlike those fake smiles I always gave to people. I really had a true friend now. Hinata, she was like an angel sent from the heavens to save me. It was like God never forgotten me all this time, he answered my prayers that no one could ever gave me a better one. I felt like the happiest boy alive at that moment, no one could tear that friendship bond away. I valued this friendship, I wanted to show Hinata my appreciation, I knew a gift would be the perfect answer. At the back of my head, the perfect gift came up, it was a teddy bear. (AN: Lame? YEAH! But what could a five year old think of? It's not like he's getting married.) Luckily, it was on discount so I was able to get it for a cheap price. Unfortunately, that shop was across town so it took me a while to reach home. But soon, I found out my lateness tonight was my blessing for it was the night the villagers commenced their revolt. They had enough of me, they couldn't stand one second longer of my existence, they decided to get rid of me once and for all. I didn't even know what happened when I returned, all I saw was that my apartment was trashed beyond all repair. There were at least a hundred or more people standing outside the area waiting for someone. They were carrying scythes, rakes, pick axes and other weapons. I didn't know why they did it but I was emotionally crushed. If I was at home at that time, I knew I would've been killed.

"Hey, it's that cursed kid!" shouted a villager pointing at me with a spear. That caught the attention of the other allies who were with him.

"Shit, there he is! Kill that bastard!" yelled another with absolute rage.

"Take out his eyes!" screamed another energetically.

"Tear up his shins!"

"Bludgeon his face!" At that moment, I ran for my life. Even though I didn't know what bludgeon or tear meant, I clearly knew what the meaning of burn was. By the tone of their voices, I doubt they were too kind. I continued to run away as quick as my legs could move but the villagers were hot on my tail. Luckily, I had an incredible source of stamina so I kept on running. However, due to their sheer numbers, those bloody bastards eventually cornered me. First, they intimidated me and not long later it was physical torture. They kicked me right in the gut to make sure I would be in enough pain that I couldn't run away. Soon, they bashed my head with their fists, tossing me around like a rag doll trying to make me experience endless torment before my ticket to hell arrived. They wanted it to be slow so I would remember how pitiful I was to them. It was that moment a villager smashed his fist to my head sending me crashing to a wall causing dramatic impact to my wasted body. I laid there lifelessly, beaten to a bloody pulp. It wasn't like those scenes from anime where someone did something stupid or perverted and got caught by the targets. I was dying, I was really dying.

Blood seamed through the wound on my head down to my nose and continued to drip onto the ground, a mixture of fear, anger, resentment and other feelings dwelled inside me. I was very emotionally hurt. When the villagers had enough of their fun, they wished to end my life. My eyes widened in complete fear as I saw a figure holding a scythe over his head ready to strike. I closed my eyes believing that was the end of my life. I felt tears coming from my eyes, I couldn't believe this friendship between me and Hinata would end like this, it was too soon, there was so much I didn't want to let go yet. I shut my eyes, prepared for anything knowing it was useless to retaliate. I felt like crying, I was too powerless to help myself, too weak to accomplish what I wanted to do.

"STOP THIS NOW!" ordered someone from above harshly. Suddenly a man with a mask came down from above coming to my aid. That voice sounded so familiar... it sounded like it was the 3rd Hokage. I glanced at the masked man, he looked like an ANBU member. Before I could even express my gratitude, my body felt weak. Soon, I passed out due to exhaustion and severe injuries.

**_(Days later after that tragic incident)_**

I woke up either the next day or even several days later. As I opened my eyes, I could see the old man Hokage next to me. I realized I was in the hospital.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" he asked kindly offering his hand. I jerked away immediately and glared at his hand. I couldn't trust him or anyone! How could I trust people after the incident that happened that night? Their evil expressions were still stuck in my mind as if it happened just now. I wanted it to disappear but it continued to haunt me, to torment me. I thrashed violently like a crazed maniac not knowing why or had the willpower to control my actions and emotions. If the 3rd didn't held me close and did the right thing to calm me down, the entire room might've been destroyed.

"Get away from me!" I screamed once I felt he was holding my shoulders. Normally, I would be glad someone showed their kindness but not today. I rudely shoved his hand off my shoulders as I trembled in fear. 'What the heck is happening to me?' I thought as cold sweat came down my forehead. 'This is the Hokage' I kept telling myself in my head. 'Calm down, Naruto, calm down.' I tried to listen to myself but my conscience didn't feel otherwise. "Where are all those evil people?" I asked rather rudely but the look he gave me seemed like he expected me to ask that. "Where are they Hokage-sama? Why did they try to kill me? What did I do?"

"It's not you, Naruto," said the 3rd sadly lowering his head. "I'll tell you, it's not you."

"Then why?" I wanted an answer immediately.

"You do want to know what happened to those people don't you, Naruto?" he asked changing the subject. I nodded slowly watching his every movement, everything he did seemed so suspicious to me all of a sudden. "I ordered the ANBU to deal with them, don't worry."

"What do you mean? What if they come back to hunt me?"

"No they won't, I made sure they won't." A sudden sense of realization hit me, they were dead. The old man Hokage ordered the ANBU to execute over 100 men, it was a bit hard to swallow at the time being. "Naruto, what would you like to do now?" he asked understandingly.

"I don't know..." I replied with my hands covering my face crying.

"Would you like to stay here in Konoha and continue to live here?"

"Hell no!" I snapped angrily. "How the hell do you expect me to live here after what happened?" Deep down I was laughing at the old man for asking such a stupid question, but again, the look he gave me told me that he expected that answer as well.

"If you don't want to stay here, where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere but here." I stated simply without emotion. I felt strange speaking in that tone but somehow it felt right somehow, it was like a one-eighty-degree contrast of me, somehow I liked it. "I'm leaving Konoha, Hokage-sama, I don't care if you allow me or not, I know I can't stay here."

"How would you survive in the outside world, you are only five years old," said the 3rd. Somehow, he wasn't too surprised at my decision, his psychology started to freak me out. Then I was realized when did I start to think like that? I never cared about anything in the world other than ramen, training, pranks and Hinata-chan. When did I start to notice human gestures and psychology? I didn't understand my sudden change at all.

"I don't care," I replied coldly. "I rather die of survival than in the hands of those bloody bastards..." The old man smiled sincerely, to me it seemed he was mocking me.

"If you intend to leave, I won't stop you, Naruto." my eyes blinked a several times, trying to make sure I heard what I heard. "To be honest, I wanted to send you away for some time." I glared at him angrily.

"So, you don't want me here either?" I snapped bitterly.

"No, it's not that. After the incident you had several days ago, I really don't think it would be wise for a five-year-old to remain at a place like this. It's not good for your growth since it does bring very tragic memories." I winced at those words. "But I didn't want to force you out of this village so I wanted to make sure that you wanted to make this decision on your own."

"Thanks for your consideration..."

"Even though you are leaving, I want a guardian to take care of you."

"A guardian? I lived alone all my life, why would I need a guardian now?" I said rather surprised.

"The outside world isn't like the life here in Konoha, Naruto!" he declared raising his voice. "If you aren't going with a guardian, I won't allow you to leave the village." I muttered a fine under my breath knowing there was no way I could win an argument like this, the best move was to agree to his terms.

"Who's this guy that's gonna be my guardian?" I asked with my foxy eyes but without the grin.

"You will like him, I am sure of it." Then a man in his early 40s entered the room. He was dressed in red Japanese style clothing. He had white hair with two red lines from his eyes, which reached, down to his face. He had no Konoha protector on him but he had a scroll. I looked at the man closely, he seemed to jerk back a bit when he saw me, I wondered why. "Naruto, this is Jiraiya, he will be your guardian from now on."

"Hokage-sama... I want another guardian..." I muttered making Jiraiya fell over anime style.

"Another guardian?" yelled Jiraiya furiously. "Do you even know who I am?"

"No." I stated.

"I am the great Jiraiya, the amazing toad summoner and one of Konoha's Legendary Three! I will show you that I am amazing!"

"Yeah, but you are a pervert." The 3rd sweatdropped and gave a disappointed stare at Jiraiya. Jiraiya's face darkened as he heard me, which made me laugh loudly.

"Jiraiya..." said the 3rd in a threatening tone. "What did this kid see you do?"

"He didn't see anything! I don't know him, this is the first time I saw him, Sarutobi-sensei!" justified Jiraiya in a slight panic. "I am really telling the truth!"

"If he didn't see anything, how would he know what your 'profession' was?" questioned the Hokage.

"Well... I don't know..."

"I'll tell you, Hokage-sama!" I said in my usual energetic tone. Jiraiya's eyes widened. "It was like, I was walking around town one day and I saw him outside the women's bath peeking at something. He was really visible and..." I was cut short but a lock performed by Jiraiya. I tried to break it but he was too strong.

"Listen up, kid," said Jiraiya giving me death glares in every word. "You keep quiet and I will buy you anything later, okay?" He expressed the word okay with much force and desperation. I was laughing inwardly.

"You...mean...it?" I asked still within his grasp.

"Yes... yes!"

"DEAL!"

"Ahem!" said the 3rd clearing his throat catching both our attentions. "We still have an important matter to discuss here, remember?"

"Yeah," I said. "When am I leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." I was surprised at this sudden plan. "You should know Jiraiya will also be your sensei from this day on, you will be able to learn a lot from him." I simply nodded. I was grateful that Jiraiya was going to train me even if he was a pervert, if I didn't had this psychological breakdown, I would be jumping for joy. Deep down, I was relieved that I was leaving this place. The look on my new sensei's face showed nothing more than concern and sadness, I don't even know him, why would he show such emotions towards me? Somehow, I knew he cared. That evening, I tried to find everything in my wrecked apartment. All I retrieved were my clothes, some money, scrolls and ninja weapons. The following morning, the two of us left the village without anyone escorting us other than the Hokage. He ordered this to be a highly classified mission and no one except me can tell anyone about it. That day, I left Konoha willingly, not ever wanting to return.

_**(End Flashback)**_

_**(General POV:)**_

"That's my story Hinata-chan," said Naruto sighing a little. "After that incident, I lost a lot of my morals and values in life. I no longer trusted anyone or anything. There was no one who you could really trust unless you really pierce into their thoughts and mind. My life then was more of a tunnel where light wasn't at the end, it was eternal corruption and..."

"Stop it, Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she started to cry again. Then she embraced him in another passionate hug that took him by surprise. She sobbed on his shoulder making it all wet but he didn't care, he knew it wasn't something that she wanted to hear but it seemed that she was glad to hear the truth in the end.

"I'm sorry you had to hear this, Hinata-chan."

"No," she wiped the tears off her face. "It was my decision..." 'Thank you for telling me, Naruto-kun.' thought Hinata warmly. _'I hope you know I really care about you.'_

"It's a good thing to know somebody cares about me," said Naruto blindly.

"Huh?" _'Is he saying what I think he is? Does he care for me like I do?'_

"I am grateful to have someone like you care for me, worry about me when I am in danger. You haven't forgotten about me after all these years, and yet I forgot about you. I feel guilty not remembering a person such as yourself."

"It has been seven years, Naruto-kun." _'I don't care how long it has been, as long as you are here with me... I feel happy, I feel secure... when can I tell you that what I feel inside...'_

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked reading her thoughts with his eyes. His bloodline ability allowed him to hear her thoughts out loud. She shrieked a little bit, how did he know that she was thinking of something like that?

"Nothing... there is nothing!" she flailed her hands nervously. The Death Knight seemed unconvinced but he decided to drop it. Infiltrating someone's mind as if it was a casual thing was a disrespectful thing to do, there are always some things you shouldn't abuse when the power was given to you. If he stayed here any longer, he may lose himself and listen to more of her thoughts, he was curious of what she was thinking. He decided to leave and continue with what he was trying to do in the first. As he got up, her hand snaked around his. He gave her a glance, her teary eyes wanted him to stay. As he tried to break, her grip increased. He felt her warm small hands, they were gentle, soft and filled with a passionate feeling. Her eyes demanded him to stay, it wasn't forceful but no one could resist it, not even Naruto.

"Hinata-chan..."

"Please stay... with me..." her voice was heavenly to his ears, no one could reject. He soon found himself sitting back down again with Hinata lovingly wrapping her arms around his. He blushed a little knowing what kind of situation they are at, but it felt fine, it wasn't shameful, it was just right. The two teens sat there in silence, Hinata was enjoying every bit of it while Naruto took a few glances at her once in a while. She blushed every time he did that. 'I wonder how Hinata-chan could blush all the time, she's so cute when she does that.' thought Naruto. '_Wait, what am I thinking? Damn you, Jiraiya, it's your fault for being such a pervert!'_

"Hinata-chan," said Naruto suddenly breaking their peaceful silence. "I suggest you don't think of anything that you don't want me to know..."

"Why?"

"Did I tell you I could hear thoughts if I want to?" Hinata's eyes widened in shock. There were plenty of things that she didn't want Naruto to know. If he found out how much she loved him, he possibly just couldn't. Not to mention some of the naughtiest things that were at the back of her mind that can never be revealed to anyone. She started to curl into a ball, trying to be as small as possible, not wanting Naruto to invade. "I'm just teasing you, Hinata-chan, I ain't gonna read your mind for no reason."

"Please don't read my mind, Naruto-kun." she begged.

"My eyes see a lot more than you imagine. That reminds me, why were you crying just now?" Hinata looked at the ground not meeting his eyes. Her actions told him it was something difficult that she has to face but she didn't want to deal with it. She was afraid, but he couldn't catch what it was. "Hinata-chan, did something happen to you? Can you tell me?"

"I don't want to say it..."

"It's no use trying to hide it from me, I will find out one way or another." He then activated his eyes, the Unholy Sight turning his pupils to teal.

"I... I don't want to take the genin exam!" she exclaimed loudly which startled Naruto a little. "I'm scared! I'm afraid I may fail and my father and the clan will think I'm useless... I don't want to disappoint them but I am so afraid that I may screw up... I don't know what to do..." she then embraced the boy for comfort and security. The Death Knight did what his instincts told him, he hugged her back. Then, he felt the girl was holding him tighter, more passionate than before. He smiled inwardly and rubbed her back gently to relax her. She seemed to like it. Then, a perfect idea struck his mind.

"Hinata-chan," said the silver hair boy breaking the warm embrace looking right into her lavender eyes. A shade of crimson appeared on her cheeks. "I may be able to help you, you know what the exam format is?"

"You're gonna help me, Naruto-kun?" she asked not believing she was hearing.

"Yeah, that's what friends are for, right?" 'I wish we are more than friends...' thought the Hyuga girl. "C'mon, Hinata-chan, I'm making an offer you can't possibly refuse." He tried sounding convincing.

"Are you sure?" she questioned teasingly.

"Positive." stated Naruto confidently with a smile.

"Okay," she said giving in. "The exam consists of 3 tests, the Bunshin test, the weapons throwing accuracy test and the one on one dueling."

"One on one dueling? That sounds fun."

"That's the test I am worried about. I can't mess up on that test... father will never forgive me if I failed against those students. I have the Hyuga bloodline abilities... father expects me to beat them. He can't afford to have a useless and weak heiress." She explained sadly. Naruto just smiled giving her the message that she wasn't weak in his eyes. He would be there to make her stronger.

"What do you say if I teach you a very useful jutsu?" the Death Knight offered sincerely and willingly.

"I... I can't accept that Naruto-kun..." she replied blushing. "It would be a bother for you to teach me."

"No, it won't be. I'll be glad to teach you something new. Trust me, this technique would be beneficial to your Hyuga gentle fist that disrupts chakra flow and internal damage. I'm certain that this move would give the edge in any battle against any opponent. Consider this as my gift to you, you are my best friend, I want you accept this token of appreciation."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she accepted his offer happily. 'No wonder I love you, Naruto-kun...' she thought smiling radiantly. "But... I'm not that good with jutsus... I might take too long..."

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, it only took me two days to learn it. At that time I was only like... six? You are much stronger than me when I started to learn it. You'll be fine." She nodded slightly but inside she was jumping for joy since Naruto had so much faith in her and truly believed that she could do it. "The technique is called Mana Burn. Some people refer to it as Chakra Burn. The purpose of this technique is simple, to burn chakra. Yes, yes, you want to know what I meant by that. To make it simple, this is a close range beam that is composed of negative energies that destroys a specific amount of chakra from the target the user desires. The chakra that was burned or destroyed would be used against the target."

"How though?" she asked while listening attentively.

"The burned chakra would now damage the target by the same amount of chakra burned. During the process, you are basically thinning out their chakra and dealing damage, messing up their stamina. It's a very lethal move, Hinata-chan. Remember chakra is something that a ninja needs to survive, hitting the correct area with the Mana Burn can burn up a huge portion of chakra and severe impact to the target's stamina level. If you burn too much, it could be an instant death thing. With your Byakugan, you will know where to hit, you can use the technique even better than me."

"But, how much chakra could I burn with this move?" she asked curiously.

"It will be three times or more than the chakra you used to perform the move."

"Where is the best area to hit though?"

"The chakra organ or the heart. If you hit there, you could disrupt their chakra by over ten times the amount you put in. That alone can kill a target in one shot if they are weak" he explained. "Now, I will show you what the result should be." He quickly formed hand seals that Hinata couldn't even catch what they were. Then at the palm of his hand, he released a thin fluorescent green beam that reached about 20 feet before it wore out. Then Naruto created a Kage Bunshin and used it as the human guinea pig. As the beam hit the clone, the replication held at the spot of where the beam hit painfully. The clone coughed and panted heavily before it vanished in a cloud of smoke. Hinata was astounded by this technique. It made her wanted to learn it even more.

**_(After a long period of time)_**

It took Hinata 6 hours to learn this move and it was faster than what Naruto expected. Her chakra control was very good but not perfect. She managed to learn how much chakra she should use. Hinata even knew how to put more chakra into the beam to achieve an even greater result. The Death Knight had to admit, she was a natural at energy disrupting techniques. Her Mana Burn had range, control and considerable amount damage, it was outstanding. He couldn't help feeling proud of himself for teaching her friend. This was so much better than that teddy bear that he was going to give her.

"Hinata-chan, that was great." said Naruto happily. "You mastered it already!"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun..." she replied with heavy breathing. "I..." she then started to fall forward due to exhaustion. Luckily Naruto caught her by the shoulders before her face made contact with the ground. He quickly turned her around so she would be resting in his arms. "Naruto-kun..." she whimpered as she held his hand for reassurance. The Death Knight blushed at her touch but decided to shake it off. He was worried, her chakra levels were too low, she really overworked herself today.

"Hianta-chan, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be silly. You have no idea how proud I am to see you mastering that move in such a short amount of time. Just rest for a bit." 'She mastered one of my Hidden Techniques in such a short amount of time, she really does have potential.' thought Naruto. 'However, I need to heal her before her condition gets worse... I could give her some of my chakra... no, my demonic chakra would corrupt her. I can't do that... I will use a potion.' He then reached for his pouch on his left waist and reached out a small jar. He opened it and allowed Hinata to drink it. Surprisingly enough, she took all of it. He didn't mind though, as long as she was safe that was what mattered. Moments later, he could feel her chakra levels rising again, her face became more lively. As she rested pleasantly closing her eyes, it was then when the silver hair shinobi started to cough. He had used way too much chakra to create clones, not only that he took some of the Mana Burn hits as well. It was obvious to anyone his health was quite messed up too. With Hinata sleeping, he felt safe from using one of the Death Knight's key attacks.

"This has to do," he said to himself taking his vampuric runeblade and charging it with energy. The blade started to glow deathly green. However, Hinata wasn't asleep as she was watching the entire thing. "Death Coil!" he exclaimed while the energy from his blade launched itself at him in a coil of death. Her eyes widened with shock as the Death Coil consumed Naruto in a defile manner. It was like death itself has devoured him. As the effect wore off, the Death Knight sighed in relief. He looked a lot more alive, he had a smile on his face as he turned slightly to make it visible for the Hyuga girl. 'How could this be?' thought Hinata still stunned at what she saw. 'Naruto-kun felt better after that... it didn't look like any healing technique to me...'

"Naruto-kun..." she murmured softly which was audible to the boy. He rushed to her side immediately holding her hand. She blushed again when she felt his touch.

"You okay?" he asked using his not occupied hand and felt the temperature of her cheeks. Another shade of fuchsia appeared which didn't go unnoticed. He smiled. "Good, you don't have a fever, you were just tired." He wanted help her sit up but her actions told him she wanted to lie down, but she wanted to rest on him in a cozy position. Strangely, he didn't refuse and allowed the back of her head to rest gently on her chest.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun..." she managed to say while sighing pleasantly looking up at the darkening sky.

"You like the position you're in right now?" he asked jokingly. She nodded silently with a sincere smile. "It's worth it to see you happy."

"You're so nice to me, you haven't changed one bit." she stated warmly.

"I haven't?" he asked curiously.

"You were always kind to people, it's who you are, it's something very rare in humans." Naruto was touched, he knew she meant every word.

"You are kind yourself, Hinata-chan." He said as he gave her a slight massage on her shoulders. She stiffened at first but then she gave in to the soothing sensation she was receiving. "How do you like it?"

"It feels wonderful, Naruto-kun..." she said nearly moaning in pleasure. The dark warrior blushed.

"I... am glad... you like it," he said stuttering between words. The two teens sat in silence enjoying each other's presence. The lavender eyed girl was amazed at his touch, he became much different than before. He was no long obnoxious but a true gentleman. He was mature, mysterious, unpredictable in a good way, genuine, he was everything a woman would want and love. The girl blushed even deeper when she took a short glimpse at him. She knew she loved him and at that moment she really wanted to tell him her true feelings towards him. She was so glad he has returned to her.

Naruto looked at the girl in front of him, even though he wasn't obsessed about girls like his sensei, he had to admit Hinata was very cute and not to mention pretty. He realized today how much Hinata liked him, he knew he was too dense to notice this before. In other words, too stupid. All those actions she took today, they were filled with affection. As he observed her, she still had the same haircut she had seven years ago and her eyes seemed to glitter radiantly. He shook his head violently trying to shut out all the unappropriate thoughts in his head, he knew he couldn't think like that. All he was trying to do was make her feel better. That was what he kept telling himself.

"Naruto-kun..." whispered Hinata softly breaking the silence between them

"What is it?" he asked.

"I haven't ate anything all day..." she told him while giggling. "I'm hungry."

"Same here, Hinata-chan, that makes the two of us." The two chuckled a bit. "It'll be my treat, let's go!" She nodded in agreement as Naruto took her hand leaving the park. It was a good start of a broken friendship. _'You're so kind to me, Naruto-kun,' _thought the heiress dreamingly. _'Welcome back.'_

**ANN: Chapter 2 is done, YATTE! (Shove fist into the air triumphantly!) Anyway, I hoped you liked it! It was long real long, 5K or something words... man, I really thought that I was going to die. I exaggerated the dying part but you can tell I was kidding. Reviews are always appreciated. If you want to know the 'techniques' in a more detailed fashion, tell me. I will post something like a jutsu list when more of those moves show up. Hey, I want this to be a good fic after all, you wouldn't want this to turn out crappy would you? Oh yeah, my stotyline is already plotted so you can't really change it in any way but good suggestions could always make me consider. Final words, I hoped you enjoyed it. I hope to hear your opinions! To those who believe that Naruto sounded too grown up in that flashback, well, that's the critical point where his views and opinions in life change drastically. Maturity was crucial, I hope you all liked it.**

**Now, for some important addition stuff!**

**THE JUTSU LIST**

_IMPORTANT NOTE: _Since one author out there sent an abuse to my story about this list, I have no choice but to move the list here. So in the future if you don't know enough details about the new introduced attacks and jutsus or whatnot, please remember to look in chapter 2 since I deleted The Jutsu Explanation page off Don't blame the person who sent the abuse report, I shouldn't have said things that I shouldn't have. My blindness rage just took the better of me. I hope you won't get any confusions. ENJOY!

**Additional AN: All the moves listed here, Naruto knows all of them. Those who believe that he has too many moves... let me ask you this then. If he knows a lot of techniques, isn't that a good thing? It's not to his disadvantage or what not and I like him knowing that many attacks, it makes him very cunning and versatile. If you like this, I'm glad. If you don't, I could care less. Just to remind all of you, Naruto is extremely powerful in this story, if he seems invinsible, I'll gurantee he ain't but it doesn't seem like it. He WILL get hurt, he can die if acts like a fool in an actually battle!**

**_1. UNHOLY SIGHT/SIGHT OF DIVINITY:_** (Introduced in Chapter 1)

Description: A Uzumaki Clan bloodline limit to enable them to see demons as primary effect. Secondary but very important include reading thoughts, sensing chakra levels of people and a minor see through vision. But it can't see chakra flow system or tenketsu.

Users: Anyone with Uzumaki bloodline. Currently, Naruto.

Chakra Usage: Very low and slowly drains chakra when activated.

Targets: Anyone to read their thoughts or sense their chakra. Otherwise, none.

Cooldown Rate: None

Range: N/A

I created this move, it originates from ME!

(Some people would consider this ability to be divine since it does see evil demons, that's what Paladins would call this ability. Some other people would consider it to be unholy since some believed the technique was a way to connect to the demons, that's what Death Knights call the move.)

**_2. DEATH COIL:_** (Introduced in Chapter 2)

Description: A coil of death that deals a superficial amount of damage to a living being or heals a dead or demonic being by a lot.

Users: Naruto only.

Chakra Usage: Low

Targets: Self, living to deal damage, the dead to heal.

Cooldown Rate: Depends on the user's skill. Otherwise, moderate.

Firing Range: Long but could be used at any distance.

Damage: Very High

Originate from Undead Death Knight

(Remember this, Death Knights are half demon and half human beings, that's why Naruto uses Death Coil to heal himself. Also, he has demonic chakra flowing in his veins, making him able to use this move on himself. Naruto is not dead, don't worry. But he is afraid of divine light since he is darkness.)

**_3. MANA BURN:_** (Introduced in Chapter 2)

Description: A beam compose of negative energies that burn mana/chakra from a certain target and deals damage to the target by the same amount of mana burned.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: lower than Death Coil.

Cooldown Rate: Fast.

Targets: Anything living or dead with chakra.

Firing Range: Preferably close, possibly medium

Damage: Medium

Originated from Night Elf Demon Hunter

**_4. BLINK:_** (Introduced in Chapter 1)

Description: A short distance teleport technique that warps the user to a distance up to 500 meters. (500 meters is pretty far...)

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Hinata, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra usage: VERY Low

Cooldown Rate: Very Fast.

Targets: None.

Range: N/A

Originated from Night Elf Warden

(The chakra usage might be low but if used way too consecutively like as if it's your source of travelling from place to place, it will be draining.)

**_5. REJUVENATION:_** (Introduced in Chapter 3)

Description: A very rare healing technique known to few Medic-nins in all the countries. It's a move that could rejuvenate internal wounds and external injuries with a glowing light gradually. It won't heal the injuries completely if it's severe but it does make sure the person would be alive, unless the victim is already dead.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Very Fast

Targets: Self, anything still alive.

Target Range: Close

Originated from Night Elf unit: Druid of the Claw

**_6. METAMORPHOSIS:_** (Introduced in Chapter 4)

Description: Turns the Death Knight into an extremely powerful dark half demon, half human. The Death Knight's dangerous trump card.

Users: Naruto only.

Chakra Usage: Very High

Cooldown Rate: Very Slow

Targets: None.

Range: None

Originated from the Night Elf Demon Hunter

(Okay, this one would take a bit of explanation. The Metamorphosis isn't a move that Naruto could use just for the fun of it. Even if he nearly gets killed in battle, he shouldn't use it. The Metamorphosis uses the dark powers within himself to transform, causing Naruto's mind to be influenced by the darkness. This darkness is very tempting and it could easily take over his actions making Naruto a dangerous predator.)

Activation Methods: 1. Naruto uses it willingly which is never. 2. Naruto gets too injured and the dark spirit comes in to his aid to heal him. However, the process of healing is too quick for the Death Knight to handle so another form must be used in order to sustain it. 3. Naruto's mind becomes evil. So the dark spirit would make him transform much, much easier as if it's necessary.)

**_7. PHASE SHIFT:_** (Introduced in Chapter 6)

Desciption: Removes the user from existence for one second and returns in the next. During this process, the user would dodge and evade all incoming attacks for that one second.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura

Chakra Usage: Very Low.

Cooldown Rate: Very Fast

Targets: None

Range: None

Originated from Night Elf unit: Faerie Dragon

**_8. UNHOLY AURA:_** (Introduced in Chapter 6)

Description: A powerful aura that gives friendly allies and comrades an additional health regeneration and movement speed by 40. The Death Knight decides who the aura would effect.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto.

Chakra Usage: None

Cooldown Rate: None

Targets: Self, anyone he desires.

Aura Radius: 12 meters

Originated from Undead Death Knight.

(Okay, if you play WC3, you'll know the auras are passive abilities. Those who don't know what I am talking about, well, I hope you understand at least. You all know all auras have a ring surrounding the hero showing that there is an aura. In this case, I will not have a ring or anything since this is real life and not a game. But the reason I made it into a activate or deactivate move since the Unholy Aura does reveal the position of the Death Knight. Those who play WC3 will know what I'm talking about. In this case, Naruto would only activate his aura in combat if he has to instead of in effect 24/7. I wish it was though but I have to put some logic in my story.)

**_9. DEATH PACT:_** (Introduced in Chapter 6)

Description: Generates chakra to the runeblade causing the Death Knight's attacks to recover health, not chakra by 300 of the damage dealt.

Users: Uzumaki Death Knights, Naruto for now

Chakra Usage: Very High

Cooldown Rate: Moderate

Targets: Anything.

Target Range: Medium.

Damage: Very High

Originated from the Undead Death Knight.

(Okay, I made the Death Pact into an offensive technique because this ability is really cool. Of course, there are drawbacks so I had to make the technique use up a lot of chakra to perform. I hope you guys could live with it.)

**_10. FAN OF KNIVES:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Generates chakra in both palms and spins rapidly for a several 360 degrees. During this process the chakra being generated can be used as a stable shield to deflect and block incoming basic attacks, this isn't close to a perfect defence but it helps. At the same time while spinning, a legion of chakra blades would be fired in a 360 degree angle direction that reaches around 10 meters.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata

Chakra Usage: Medium

Cooldown Rate: Moderate

Targets: Anything.

Target Range: Close to Medium.

Damage: High

Originated from the Night Elf Warden.

**_11. WIND WALK:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Turns the user invisible and increase movement speed by 80 for 180 seconds. When Wind Walking and the user decides to attack, the damage would be doubled but with cost of breaking invisibilty.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: Low

Cooldown Rate: Very Fast

Targets: Self

Range: N/A

Originated from the Orc Blademaster.

**_12. IMMOLATION:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Enables the user in raging flames of chakra that burn nearby enemies in close range combat. However, it slowly drains the user's chakra until deactivated or when the user lacks chakra.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata

Chakra Usage: Very Low but drains gradually

Cooldown Rate: None

Targets: Anything.

Range: 1 meter radius.

Damage: Medium

Originated from the Night Elf Demon Hunter

**_13. MANA FLARE:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Enables a powerful chakra shield around the user to increase defence drastically. The chakra from the shield will seek enemy chakra sources and attacks them in a bolt continuously for 60 seconds or deactivated. However, once this move is used, the user can't move until it is deactivated manually or when the time reaches the limit.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura

Chakra Usage: Very Low

Cooldown Rate: None.

Firing Rate: Fast.

Targets: Anything with chakra, including enemy jutsus.

Target Range: Long.

Damage: Medium

Originated Night Elf unit: Faerie Dragon

**_14: SHADOW STRIKE:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Releases a chakra dagger with a deal of poison. Once it hits the target, it will deal superficial damage amd slowly deals more damage from time to time for the next several minutes. The target during this time will be slowed down in movement and attack rate by 40.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata

Chakra Usage: Low

Cooldown Rate: High

Targets: Anything

Target Range: Medium

Damage: High

Originated from Night Elf Warden

**_15. MIRROR IMAGE:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: The user creates 4 different images of themselves to confuse the enemy with. Images lasts 300 seconds and has the health of the user that used it so it won't be destroyed in one hit. However, the images deal extremely low damage and do not have any techniques of their own other then their passive abilities.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Very Low

Targets: None.

Target Range: None

Originated from Orc Blademaster

**_16. EVASION:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: A self ability that allows the user to move much faster at the blink of time to evade an attack completely by 30

Type: Passive. (ALL Passive Abilities do not require chakra, cooldown, range and can't target anything)

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata

Originated from Night Elf Demon Hunter

**_17. CRITICAL STRIKE: _**(Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: A self ability that enables the user to deal 4 times more damage by 20. It powers up the strength of the user in their attacks.

Type: Passive

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura

Originated from Orc Blademaster.

**_18: CRIPPLE:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: A negative energy stunning technique that deals low damage but slows down the target's movement rate and attack rate by 70. At the same time, their attack strength will also be reduced by 30

Users: Uzumaki Naruto

Chakra Usage: Medium

Cooldown Rate: Fast

Targets: Anything

Target Range: Long

Damage: Very Low

Originated from Undead unit: Necromancer

**_19. UNHOLY FRENZY:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Increases the target's movement speed and attack rate by 75 for the next 120 seconds. However, it does hurt the target by a little bit during the time being since it's a forced dramatic increase.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto

Chakra Usage: Low

Cooldown Rate: Very Fast

Targets: Self, Allies.

Target Range: Medium

Originated from Undead unit: Necromancer

**_20. METEOR FALL/STARFALL:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: An ultimate level technique that calls down raining meteors from the skies to strike the user's enemies. Meteors will hit an enemy every 1.5 seconds and deals heavy damage. However, the user must stay at that spot until it's over or the technique will be disrupted. Lasts 90 seconds

Users: Uzumaki Naruto

Chakra Usage: Very High

Cooldown Rate: Very Slow

Targets: Enemy living or dead

Target Range: Long

Damage: Very High

Originated from Night Elf Priestess of the Moon

**_21. DEVOUR MAGIC:_** (Introduced in Chapter 8)

Description: Users uses high amount of chakra to absorb all the chakra that was put into the enemy's jutsu and uses it to benefit him/herself.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Fast

Targets: On any jutsu that require chakra

Target Range: Long

Originated from Undead unit Destroyer

**_22. CHAIN LIGHTNING:_** (Introduced in Chapter 9)

Description: A chain reaction beam that deals very high amount of damage to the aimed target and jumps 8 times to nearby enemies to damage them. Each jump deals 5 less damage.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Slow

Targets: Anything

Target Range: Long

Additional Target Range: Medium

Damage: High and decreases gradually

Originated from Orc Far Seer

**_23: SEARING ARROWS:_** (Introduced in Chapter 9)

Description: The users uses chakra in their ranged attacks within an arrow form (moulding their chakra as an arrow) that could deal 35 more damage with a splash damage effect (Fire Effect) to nearby enemies. Each shot drains chakra.

Users: Kamishiro Rin (Naruto does not know this!)

Chakra Usage: Very Low

Cooldown Rate: Based on the stamina and endurance of the user.

Targets: Anything

Firing Range: Long

Damage: Based on the strength of the user. (In Rin's case, very high)

Originated from Night Elf Priestess of the Moon

**_24: ICE SHARD:_** (Introduced in Chapter 13)

Description: User generates chakra into a large ice form and deals heavy damage to the target. The target then will be stunned for 3 seconds not able to attack or move.

Users: Haku

Charka Usage: Low

Cooldown Rate: Medium

Targets: Anything

Firing Range: Long

Damage: Medium

Originated from Naga unit: Royal Guard

**_25: FROST NOVA:_** (Introduced in Chapter 13)

Description: A ice freezing explosion that deals heavy area effect damage. Anyone who gets damaged by this attack would be slowed down in movement by 30 and attack rate by 30 for 10 seconds. If the target is weak, the Cold effect may last a lot longer than normal.

Users: Haku

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Medium

Targets: Anything

Firing Range: Long

Damage: Very High

Originated from the Undead Lich

**_26: COLD ARROWS:_** (Introduced in Chapter 13)

Description: Generates chakra in their ranged attacks that deal 30 more damage with a Cold effect. This Cold effect would decrease the target's movement and attack rate by 80 for 10 seconds. Each shot drains chakra.

Users: Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: Medium (It's not that high but the way she fires it does take a bit of chakra.)

Cooldown Rate: Based on stamina and endurance of the user. In Rin's case, very low.

Targets: Anything

Firing Range: (Based on the skill of the ranged attacker) Long

Damage: High

Originated from Naga Sea Witch

**_27: FORKED LIGHTNING:_** (Introduced in Chapter 13)

Description: A multiple striking lightning blast that shocks 5 enemy targets at once inflicting powerful damage. A move great for covering fire, suppressing fire or simply to kill a group of people at once. The damage is dealt evenly to all 5 targets.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: High

Cooldown Rate: Slow

Targets: Anything

Damage: Very High

Firing Range: Long

Originated from Naga Sea Witch

**_28: SILENCE:_** (Introduced in Chapter 13)

Description: Channels Chakra into an area and anyone who gets exposed to it cannot perform any jutsus for 60 seconds. Gathering chakra can is still possible for movement and whatnot.

Users: Uzumaki Naruto, Kamishiro Rin

Chakra Usage: Low

Cooldown Rate: Low

Targets: Anything but self and comrades

Damage: None

Casting Range: Medium

Originated from Undead Dark Ranger

Rin is a girl with an Advanced Bloodline like Naruto, Haku, Hinata and Sasuke. I'll get into detail when the opportunity comes!

**_AN: So far I have gotten the people to have all Cunning Hero techniques. The Demon Hunter, Warden and Blademasters are in that category. The Death Knight is considered a Warrior. The others on the list with the word unit... they are just your average day useful units that can really come in handy in almost any battles. _**


	3. Genin Exam

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 3: Genin Exam_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of his characters, I am just a big fan! I didn't create WC3 either, I just love that game. Please leave me be! I beg you! (Runs away like those cowardly scientists from HalfLife that makes you really want to shoot them if a weapon is within your posession.)

Legend

"...": Speech

_'...'_: Thoughts

Scene Change are the bolded italic brackets. I have changed it since this website is f-ing everything up!

**AN: Yes, to all those who asked if I play Warcraft 3, I do play that game! And to those who asked me about japanese names for jutsus... I will say this, i have no idea what the japanese words are and my jap is utterly horrible. If you read my biography, you will know I play a lot of Opposing force and Warcraft 3. Thank you so much for your reviews, I am glad all of them were positive. Those really kept me going onward with this fic. I would use items such as soldier pill and what not but some of the moves I have to use the original name, sorry. To all who think this would be a short fic, hell you are wrong. It's long, really darn long and I know it's interesting (becasue I am the AUTHOR!). There will be plenty of surprises waiting for all of you. If you know me... which all of you don't obviously, I don't like short stuff unless it's good. If you give me anything short to read, I will give you half a second of my time to read it and then I will think it's boring. If you are lucky, you will get this 21st century body to pay attention for that half a second. I know that was really mean, so.... Hope you enjoy this chappie. **

**_(The morning of the very next day)_**

The morning in Konoha was always a peaceful scene to enjoy. However, Naruto didn't seem to agree with that statement. As the alarm clock started its infernal racket once the second hand reached 8:30 AM, it startled the silver hair boy to the core. As a result, his so-called beautiful dream was shattered to a thousand shards.

_'How annoying...'_ he thought as he punched the clock effortlessly turning it into a pieces of scrap metal. _'I really should stop relying on these things to wake me up.'_ He chuckled at that thought, then he went on with the morning routines. After a nice, quick shower, he went to his room to get dressed. He wore the usual colour, black. He wore black pants with a belt to hold 2 pouches on his back, a dark blue vest on top of his black T-shirt that revealed his bandaged right arm. After he tied his headband on his forehead, he wore a blindfold to cover his eyes.

The boy wasn't blind, the reason to this was to train his bloodline limit. In simpler words, he was training on the see through vision part of his ability. If there were obstacles in his path, he must focus more chakra in order to see through it. Gradually he would get used to this new difficulty and permanently increase his vision. When he believed it was too easy, he would simply add more chakra into the blindfold to obstruct his vision even more. It was a good practice since his sight wasn't like the Byakugan, he needed to achieve it to a higher level.

As he put the blindfold on, he gathered chakra into his hand and his runeblade, Nightshadow came to his side immediately and equipped itself onto his left waist. He then made a quick breakfast that was clearly ramen and consumed it in ten quick bites. After a deep breath of fresh air outside, he quickened his pace to the old academy to take on the genin exam. There was a long day ahead of him.

**_(At the academy during the meantime)_**

Hinata arrived at the academy quite early that morning, she was the second to arrive. The first person to arrive other than Iruka-sensei was the numberone student, Uchiha Sasuke, one of Hinata's friends. She decided to have a quick chat with him before class started since when the fan girls arrived, she wouldn't be able to get close. Besides, it had been a while since the two have talked. Losing a friend wasn't something Hinata preferred.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." greeted Hinata politely with a smile walking closer to him. Sasuke's eyebrow raised a bit as he sensed happiness in her voice.

"Good morning, Hinata-san," said Sasuke devoid of emotions but Hinata didn't mind, she knew he had his standards to keep up. "So, how are you lately?"

"Good, very good." answered the Hyuga girl somewhat blindly.

"How so?" questioned Sasuke allowing his curiosity to take over.

"I..." she then blushed before she could finish, that made Sasuke grin a bit. "I learned a new move..."

"Really?" he spoke with interest. "You should be proud of yourself for learning it now."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"What kind of technique is it?" _'Sasuke-kun really gets into ninjutsu stuff,'_ thought Hinata.

"It'll be my little secret," replied Hinata teasingly. "I'll let you figure it out."

"C'mon, Hinata-san, you can tell me."

"If I told you now, that would ruin the element of surprise if we sparred against each other."

"True..." he was inclined to agree. "But that would be a low chance though. The chance of you fighting me would be 1 out of 29."

"I'm doing everything I can just in case that drastic thing does happen." she stated with a smile. The two teens then just laughed a bit making their friendship grow. Iruka smiled at the scenario that was displayed in front of him. He had to admit, Hinata was a special girl since she was the only girl who Sasuke had ever opened up to. It was probably the fact that she was quiet and never bothered the Uchiha boy like his fan club did. Friendship was indeed a complex thing, it wasn't always something that meets the eye.

**_(Time goes on)_**

As time passed, more and more students began to arrive in groups or by themselves. Soon enough the classroom was filled with people. The Hyuga girl knew it was her time to leave since some of the fan girls were starting to annoy their beloved Sasuke-kun. At that time, it was time for the Uchiha to ignore them with the best of his ability.

_'Won't they ever give up?'_ thought Hinata smiling at that thought. The raven hair ninja gave looks of annoyance while Hinata just giggled at. She knew his pain well and it was something that even she didn't want. Hinata gave her friend a slight nod before she made her way somewhere else. Sasuke simply smirked. If he responded, the fan girls would become even more irritating since Hinata would be getting the attention the fan girls desperately wanted.

_'If there was someway to get out of this, I would...'_ thought the Uchiha dreadfully.

"YES, GOAL!" shouted two girls as they rushed into the classroom suddenly. One of them had long pink hair and the other one with lengthy blond hair. It was clear to anyone they were racing to beat each other again, it happened everyday it wasn't unusual. The Hyuga heiress then giggled to herself.

_'You're on your own, Sasuke-kun.'_ She thought laughing mentally knowing those two girls were his number one fans. The raven hair boy then sighed in annoyance, it really wasn't his day.

"What are you talking about, Sakura?" asked the blond hair girl with blue eyes. "I got in here first!"

"Hell no," retorted the pink hair girl Sakura. "My toe entered the room first!"

"No you didn't, forehead girl!"

"Yeah I did, Ino-pig!" The two soon shot glares at each other, everyone in the room could feel their dangerous aura. It was times like this if you didn't talk, no one would think youwere mute.

"Prove it, I know you can't." said Ino calmly.

"You and I both know who made it first, that would be me. Now would you please excuse me, since I won the race, I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun."

"Who gave you the right to decide?"

"This is a first come first serve basis, who told you to lose?" Their argument was going nowhere, the two rivals just continued to bicker. To make it worse, they gradually bickered next to Sasuke which literally drove him to his limits. If they paid close attention to Sasuke, they would see his eyebrows were constantly twitching. However, the fan girls were obviously too obsessed by his looks that no one could see that the boy was going to blow in any second. The pressure was on, the sounds were ringing in his ears like there was no tomorrow, the constant hyperactive activities were unbearable, he was being pushed way too far.

"Class, listening up!" said Iruka suddenly in front of the classroom trying to gather the students' attention.

_'What a save...'_ thought Sasuke very relieved and even grateful.

"I receive word from Hokage-sama that there would be a new student joining us today for the exam."

_'A new student?'_ thought Hinata with interest.

_'It better be a guy,'_ thought Sakura. _'He better be cute.' _

_'I seriously don't care who it is,'_ said the raven hair boy mentally. _'He better be strong.'_

"Now, I want you all to be on your best behaviour, I don't want you to make fools of yourselves in front of him. Is that clear?"

"Sir!" they exclaimed.

"Now, Naruto, would you please come in?"

_'It's Naruto-kun?'_ said Hinata in her mind delightedly. The door then slid open and a figure with a blindfold stood at the door emotionlessly. There was a powerful aura surrounding him, Iruka could feel it deep inside. Many whispers were made as the silver hair boy walked slowly to his teacher standing next to him. The Death Knight ignored it and gave the class a good glance underneath his blindfold. By the looks he was receiving, they believed he was blind. As he took a glimpse at the higher areas, he was surprised to see Hinata there, and her face shined radiantly. He couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, Naruto?" suggested Iruka in a kind voice.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure." said the mentioned person in a monotone. The last part sounded more like sarcasm than sincerity. Meanwhile, the Hyuga girl watched the boy admiringly with a shade of crimson on her cheeks. She never dreamed that Naruto would be in the same class as her. Yet, Hinata was confused why he was wearing a blindfold forshe didn't recall he had one yesterday. Was he actually blind and he didn't tell her? He didn't seem blind to her though. She knew that it wasn't nice to stare at people, but she couldn't help herself. The Hyuga girl justwanted to see him so badly. The feeling in her chest continued to beat faster when Naruto tilted his head towards her direction, she felt like he was piercing through her with his cerulean eyes. Her blush thickened and started to gaze on him once again.

"Naruto," said Iruka. "Is there anything else you want the class to know?"

"No." stated Naruto simply. Then there was a dead silence in the room.

"Well, then..." continued Iruka ending the awkward silence. "How about you sit next to Hinata for the time being, I'm sure she would be a great help to know the people around here." The boy simply nodded and made his way up the stairs to where the Hyuga girl was. Whispers were being made as the Death Knight walked by them such as

_'Who is this guy?'_

_'He looks kind of scary...' _

_'He's cute!'_

_'Not as cute as Sasuke-kun.'_ The dark warrior just ignored those comments, he had no intention of caring what those people thought about him. As he approached Hinata, he saw she had that same charming expression on her face like a few minutes ago.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." said Hinata timidly.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan," greeted the Death Knight politely noticing her gaze, he looked away slightly knowing he was going to blush.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" she asked innocently with her attractive look.

"Nothing... nothing..." The dark warrior said shaking it off. As Iruka explained the rules of the exam, he knew Hinata was watching him the entire time. He didn't want to look at her, her gaze was somewhat even seductive, and nearly unable to reject. With his Unholy Sight activated, all of her actions told him that she liked him. He tried real hard to ignore it.

(**_Not too long later after some boring lectures)_**

The first part of the exam was the weapon accuracy test, which was a piece of cake to Naruto. When his name was called, he stood at a good thirty foot range and tossed every ninja weapon he had on him onto the target. What amazed the class was the fact all of them hit directly. In fact, the target had so many shurikens and kunais on it, the entire board shattered into pieces due to the force the Death Knight put into his throws. Some of the students jaw dropped at the performance, Hinata knew he could do it no problem. After all, he did taught her the Mana Burn.

The second test was the Bunshin test. To Naruto, who could do the Kage Bunshin with no problems, this test was an insult to his intelligence. However, in spite of how annoying it may be, he still had to do it. When Iruka called his name, the boy formed hand seals which weren't the Bunshin no jutsu seals. Then, ten Naruto Kage Bunshins were created as of result. The students' eyes turned as wide as grapefruits other than Hinata of course. At that time, Uchiha Sasuke was getting pretty impressed with the new kid.

_'He seems strong,'_ thought Sasuke with a smirk. _'I would like to have a good challenge when the next test comes up, please let him be my opponent...'_ he wished. Hinata congratulated her friend for his success so far, Naruto simply acknowledged it with a smile.

The final test, this was the real deal. This portion of the test holds a very high percentage of the student's overall mark. However, this test wasn't judged by the victor or the loser forit was evaluated by how each side participated and how well each shinobi fought. In simpler terms, if one fought a great battle but lost in the end, the teachers would give the mark by overall performance. The first match up was interesting for it was Hyuga Hinata versus Haruno Sakura. Naruto just grinned at the result of the pair.

_'Hinata will win.'_ thought the silver hair boy. _'It's over...'_

Sakura charged at the Hyuga girl at high speed trying to gain the first hit advantage. As she gave a kick, Hinata easily blocked it with her right arm. With the Byakugan activated, the Hyuga heiress could see that her opponent's chakra capacity wasn't all out impressive, she knew one shot of the Mana Burn would finish her off. After her train of thought which lasted like one second in the real world, Hinata jumped back to achieve some distance. Iruka was surprised at the Hyuga girl's tactic for she never needed distance. Her style of combat was hand to hand, there wouldn't be a need for her to attack from afar. Sakura didn't even care what her opponent was planning, she went straight to her throat believing Hinata was too afraid to face her. However, as Sakura charged again, Hinata made a set of hand seals which no one was familiar of, then she fired the energy at Sakura's chakra organ.

"Mana Burn!" exclaimed Hinata as she released a negative bolt of energy right at her opponent. The outcome of the match was clear to Naruto after that attack. Sakura didn't look like she was in pain but Naruto could sense her chakra was all burned. The pink hair girl was too drained to even have the strength to hold the area of where the beam hit her. The next second, she fell on her knees and collapsed, she no longer had the strength to even stand up.

_'That was lame...'_ thought Naruto bitterly. _'I'm glad she wasn't my opponent.'_

"Hinata," called Iruka a little worried. "What kind of technique did you use on Sakura?"

"It's called Mana Burn." replied Hinata timidly playing with her index fingers.

"Really? Where did you learn it?"

"I learned it..." she then glanced at Naruto which shot her a weak glare telling her to keep her mouth shut. She agreed promptly at his decision. "Well, that will be my little secret, Iruka-sensei, is that okay with you?"

"Sure..." answered Iruka somewhat reluctantly. "Would Sakura be okay though?"

"I'm sure she would be fine," answered Naruto stepping in to the conversation. "She's just low on chakra, she would be fine sooner or later." Then the dark warrior then carried the fainted in front of him and got her to a good place to rest. Hinata wished she was the one being carried though, she desired for that position Sakura was in right now. She couldn't help feeling a little jealous of her.

After many boring matches later, Naruto was getting a little impatient. He had a very high tolerance level, it took a lot to piss him off. However, many of these student's performance were far from decent in his eyes, he was looking forward to some sit back and enjoy the ride entertainment but now he just wanted to get the exam over with. At long last, Iruka has called out the name Uzumaki Naruto, and his opponent was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. Both of them had a smirk across their face, the Uchiha boy was quite happy with his match up.

"I'll be enjoying this battle, Naruto." growled Sasuke while smirking as the two walked into the center of the field.

"Is that so?" snapped Naruto creating his preferred taijutsu stance. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

"I'll enjoy it when I wipe that smirk off your face." At an instant, the Uchiha engaged the battle with the Death Knight. He prepared a fist and aimed it at Naruto's face. The 'blinded' ninja smirked and moved his body a step backward to allow Sasuke to whiz by. The raven hair boy then made a ninety-degree spin to perform a hard kick. This time, Naruto bent his torso a little to evade the attack completely. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw his opponent moved away like it was nothing.

'_Impossible!'_ stated the Uchiha boy in his mind with his eyes twitching. He then took out a kunai from his holder and continued his assault. The slashes didn't affect Naruto at all, he was dodging them effortlessly. To the students, it seemed like Sasuke was attacking like a mad idiot and he seemed to be getting his target right where he want him. However, in reality Naruto was too quick for Sasuke, his moves were like moving in slow motion to the Uzumaki. If that was the case, there was no way the Death Knight would get hit, the outcome of this match was a dead giveaway already. It was then when Naruto went onto the offensive, he gave a snap kick right at the Uchiha's arm to knock away the kunai he was holding, then he switched to his other foot and gave a kick at Sasuke's gut. Luckily Sasuke intercepted the kick in time. Even though he blocked it, it hurt. To make Naruto believe he wasn't affected by Naruto's kick, he grinned and formed a set of hand seals.

"Fire Element, Dragon Fire no jutsu!" exclaimed Sasuke as he breathed a powerful flame attack accurately at his target.

_'A genin knowing that move?'_ thought Naruto leaping high into the air to avoid it _'He's definitely impressive, however... a jutsu at that level wouldn't work on me._'

Seeing that his jutsu missed, Sasuke directed the blast upward, Naruto used his palm to create a strong chakra shield to deflect the attack. Sasuke then decided to use objects instead but that proved to be useless as well. The chakra easily disintegrated it like thread.

_'He's unharmed? How could this be?'_

Naruto landed safely on the ground completely unharmed. It was time for him to end this game. He dashed at Sasuke with his best agility and gave a kick right at his chin causing the Uchiha to soar a several metres away. The Death Knight then went after his opponent going straight for the kill. Naruto charged a powerful negative energy in his hand hoping this would end the match, however, Sasuke wasn't someone who would just give up without a fight.

The raven hair boy got back up swiftly and knew it was time for the big guns to come in. "Sharingan!" he said activating his bloodline limit. The only chance he could beat him was to copy his exact movements and techniques. Naruto smirked as his opponent's naïve beliefs, as if he would allow himself to let him copy his techniques and battle tactics. As if he would use a move in front of a Sharingan user that he could copy, the Death Knight obviously used another Hidden technique.

"I won't let you!" shouted Naruto suddenly vanishing. Iruka couldn't even detect the presence of Naruto at that point. In the next second, the two teens were face to face, Naruto's hand made contact gently on Sasuke's chest which was filled with a deathly energy. A loud sound of forced evaporation came from the assault, the Uchiha was gasping trying to ease the pain but to no avail. All he could do was cough and pant until he fell forward helplessly into his opponents arms. Everyone in the audience gasped in utter shock and fear, they couldn't accept the fact a stranger would beat the lights out of Uchiha Sasuke, the numberone rookie. What surprised them was that Naruto accomplished what he did like it was one of the easiest things in the world.

"What the hell did you do to Sasuke-kun?" questioned Sakura who woke up moments ago. "What did you do to him, you blind freak?" The Sasuke fan club were quite furious at the moment about two things. One, their mighty Sasuke lost to a blind guy. Two, he was holding Sasuke. Even though he wasn't doing anything yaoi, the fan club wished they were the ones who were holding him. Inner Sakura at the moment was shaking her fist very violently at Naruto, she was pissed beyond recognition.

"I don't have to answer you." replied Naruto simply forming a set of rare hand seals. His hand glowed with a yellow energy and rejuvenated his fallen opponent with it. He used the healing Rejuvenation. Each passing second Sasuke seemed to become more lively.

_'Nauto-kun...'_ thought Hinata with a blush. _'You were amazing...'_

"I just drained his energy," explained Naruto still concentrating his healing on the Uchiha. "I hope that answers your question, lady."

"What kind of technique did you use on him though?" asked Sakura curiously.

"I rather not say."

"Fine! Be that way!" retorted Sakura. She was clearly still pissed. An angry Sakura was a dangerous Sakura, every male took the precaution very seriously.

"Naruto," interrupted Iruka with a small cough. "When will Sasuke wake up?"

"He'll be up shortly." was Naruto's answer before he carried him to a safe spot.

_**(Time passes)**_

Approximately ninety minutes later, Iruka finally got the jounin instructors to pick out the teams of this year's graduates. Nearly all of them were surprised that the dropout Naruto managed to beat Uchiha Sasuke. Some of them said it must've been luck since Naruto didn't claim the title of the most unpredictable kid in Konoha. Deep down, Iruka knew it wasn't luck, the boy has drastically improved. His development certainly surprised him today, he has never seen anyone improve this much in such a short amount of time. It was either he worked really hard or he had natural talent. In truth, it was a good compromise of both. Due to the silver hair boy's excellent performance, many of the jounin instructors wanted to train him. However, there was one who already chose him and his two teammates were definitely an interesting duo.

Meanwhile, all the students were chatting amongst themselves wondering if they did good enough on the exam to graduate. Most of them were very nervous about the results, it was only natural. Hinata was quite proud of herself today, not only that she did well on the first two tests, she actually won the one on one combat test. Her happy expression and cheerfulness didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, who was watching her all along. He shook his head slightly not knowing how Hinata could be so hyped up today. She was just proud of herself, that was what he kept reminding himself. It wasn't long before Hinata started to gaze on her admirer again, he quickly turned away at that split second not wanting to get attracted by her eyes. For crying out loud, they were next to each other. The Hyuga girl couldn't stop herself from watching him, she just wanted to see him in her vision.

"Hinata-chan..." said Naruto calmly not looking at her but inside he was quite nervous. "Is there something you want?"

"No." she answered dreamily. "There's nothing..."

"Is that so?" he asked sensing the soothing touch in her voice. "Would you tell me why you're looking at me like that?" Hinata's eyes snapped wide open.

_'He could see me underneath that?'_ thought the Hyuga heiress.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized quickly trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "I... I..."

"It's okay Hinata-chan, no need to apologize, I was just too curious..." _'I am going to fold if she keeps that up... what could I do, I couldn't complain about at that pretty face of hers... she looks so cute... NO, I can't think like that! I'm a Death Knight, not a womanizer... damn it...'_

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?"

"Of... of course not..." he lied with skill.

"You seem kind of nervous though."

"Am I?" he asked dumbly. "Maybe I was just too tense about the exam just now, that's it."

"Are you sure nothing is wrong?" she asked again not convinced with his answer. His eyes narrowed in disbelief, that girl could nearly see through him like glass. Well, she was his best friend.

"How did you do on the exam?" he asked changing the subject hoping Hinata would buy it.

"I think I did okay. I passed all the tests perfectly, I think I should graduate no problem. But..."

"But? But what, Hinata-chan?"

"Well, you do know that we would be assigned to teams of three don't you?"

"So, what are you implying?" asked the silver hair boy dumbly. The Hyuga girl's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing much..." she replied blushing.

"Is that so? Is being on a team actually that great?" _'It's the person that I want to be on the same team with, you dummy!_' said Hinata's inner self shaking her fist.

"I want to be on the same team as you, silly."

"You do?"

"Why wouldn't I? Don't tell me you're abandoning your friend now, Naruto-kun."

"I wouldn't do that, Hinata-chan. I would be glad if you are on my team. Whether we are together or not, promise that you will do your best. You don't want your teammates to be disappointed in you, do you?" Hinata shook her head with a smile.

"You better do your best too, or I won't talk to you anymore." joked Hinata with a giggle.

"Hey, I always do my best in everything." countered Naruto poking her cheek. She blushed immediately at his touch, Naruto just smiled at her trademark feature. Then soon, the two had a good laugh.

_**(Meanwhile at another area of the classroom)**_ (AN: I don't know girl talk, since I am a GUY! I hope this is at least something like it.)

"Just look at that new guy," said Sakura to Ino while taking glimpses of the Death Knight. "He's already flirting with Hinata-san and it's only the first time they met."

"I don't know, Sakura," mumbled Ino trying to observe the situation. "They seem to be getting along well but not flirting wise... and it seems like they know each other for some time already."

"Hey, you and I both know he's trying to hit on Hinata-san," stated the pink hair girl sharply. "Poor girl, she's so innocent and that blind guy is seducing her already! I won't stand for it!"

"Aren't you overreacting a little bit, Sakura? I mean, even if they are flirting... it's not really our business to care what Hinata-san is doing. Especially not that new guy."

"Has it occurred to you that Hinata-san attracts dark guys?"

"What do you mean, Sakura?" asked Ino confused.

"I mean, do you know Sasuke-kun is actually a friend of Hinata-san's? Sasuke-kun, having a friend who happens to be a girl. A girl for crying out loud! Amongst every girl, why her?"

"Who knows? Maybe... hey, why is Hinata-san his friend while we the more attractive ones aren't? Come to think of it, that new guy over there is really like Sasuke-kun. He's dark, mysterious, quiet, collected, good looking..."

"Not as good looking as Sasuke-kun." reminded Sakura. "And I'm going to get him, not you. You can have the blind guy Naruto if you want."

"No way, Sakura!" retorted Ino. "Come to think of it... I don't think Naruto is blind..."

"He's wearing a blindfold, he's gotta to be blind."

"I got a feeling he could see things perfectly fine..."

"You're just imagining things, Ino. Keep dreaming," assured Sakura. "He couldn't see through a blindfold."

"Maybe you're right..." said Ino not too convinced. Based on what she saw, the boy's coordinations were too accurate, a blind person would never be able to do that. If Sakura said so, there was no point in continuing to argue. At that moment, Iruka came to the center of the room.

"Alright, my children, it has been finally confirmed that all of you have passed and allowed to become genins," explained Iruka. "It also means that each of you will be partnered with two other people making a group of three with a jounin instructor to accompany you on your progress."

_'A group of three?'_ thought the Uchiha boy. _'This is going to be quite a burden. I just hope I don't get any annoying girls on my team.'_

_'I hope Naruto-kun would be on my team!'_ said Hinata excitedly in her head at that thought.

_'As long as I get Sasuke-kun on my team, anyone else would be fine other than Ino-pig!'_ thought Sakura.

_'I just want to get this thing over with.'_ thought Naruto coolly.

"Now, the teams are organized equally based on each person's strengths and weaknesses so no one has a team with any disadvantages." continued Iruka.

"Even, huh?" said Naruto to Hinata. "I sense sarcasm already." Hinata just simply giggled which made Naruto blush a slight shade of red.

"I will now announce the teams. Once your name is called, please come up and take your Konoha forehead protector. Now, Team 1 would be..." After some time of announcing which was one of the most boring crap Naruto had to sit through listening. It was even lamer than Jiraiya talking about women. "Team 7 will consist of Haruno Sakura," Sakura's head perked up. "Hyuga Hinata," That caught Hinata's attention. "And finally, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto sighed slightly while Hinata jumping for joy on the inside.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" was Sakura's response which shattered many people's eardrums. Hinata grabbed on Naruto right arm immediately due to that violent outburst. The demon boy blushed a bit at her sudden reaction, she looked so cute doing that. It was then when he slapped himself mentally not to enjoy this too much. He quickly paid attention to the now raging pink hair girl and sweatdropped. Hinata giggled at his expression, it was just so amusing. "Iruka-sensei, I demand an explanation!"

**AN: Yes, have fun with my so called cliffhanger which it really isn't. By the looks of this, another long chapter done, I added a little bit of humour to lighten up the mood a little bit. Yes, I know I suck with action, it really isn't my strong suit. But knowing Naruto is an action anime, I am forced to write some fighting scenes. If it sucks, please bare with me. That's why this thing is drama, not action/adventure! Now, reviews are always welcome. Hope you all liked it. Once again, I will thank you all for your reviews, it'll take me too long to thank everyone but you know who you are. All your requests have just made this fic so much better. The next few chapters might get a little slow since I have calculus to deal with, but I will still try to update my stuff as soon as I can, I know you people like to read more. Later! **


	4. Meeting Hatake Kakashi

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 4: Meeting Hatake Kakashi._

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! I don't own Warcraft 3 either! If I did, I wouldn't be poor now would I? I wish I did though!

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scene Change will be shown in bolded italic brackets if you are curious.

**AN: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! Who would've thought that many people liked it. Personally, I really liked this myself. For those who reviewed it, you know who you are and you should be glad to support me. I need you guys a lot more than you think. For who wanted to know what my account name is on WC3, I don't have one since I have no time for games online. I have dial up, it sucks crap! (Sobs and wipes tears away) I will be getting cable eventually but I know it would be like in another 2 months or so. Yes, it's really annoying. Enough about me, this time is for you people! Now, for all you loyal people out there, he is the next chapter. **

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" screeched Sakura at the top of her lungs while standing. "I have to team up with Naruto? This is an outrage!" Sasuke, Hinata and especially Naruto sweatdropped. Sasuke really didn't want to hear anymore girly screeches and anything similar that day, he had enough trouble facing the fact he lost to Naruto, the new guy. The Uchiha didn't hate the Death Knight, he saw him more as a worthy rival and possibly a friend since they had nearly the same personality. Better yet, Naruto was Hinata's friend making them have the same thing in common. Hinata was basically holding onto her friend's hand tightly and excitedly. Any smart person would know this was the happiest thing that happened to the cute Hyuga heiress. Naruto could obviously see that. The Death Knight shook his head a little trying to recover from that sudden shock. At the same time, he was curious of what Iruka had to say about Sakura's protest.

"Well, Sakura," began Iruka with a slight cough. "Hinata has to be on his team too, I don't see her having any problems with it... that's unless she has a problem with it as well."

"Oh, Hinata-san," begged Sakura. "Please say that you have a problem with this so the two of us could switch teams!" Anyone could see Sakura wanted to increase her chance to be on the same team as Sasuke, but the raven-haired genin didn't give a crap about what was happening. To be honest, he didn't even notice. Hinata shook her head slightly giving a no reply to Sakura. The pink haired girl was enraged. However, she won't back down without a decent fight. "Why do I... I mean we have to team up with a blind person anyway? There will be uncertainties in the future that his disability would be our downfall. It's unfair!" Then Naruto started to laugh.

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto with a smile. "I'm not blind." He then took off his blindfold to reveal his eyes weren't damaged in anyway. Sakura gasped in awe. He had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, so pure, so gentle, ever so attractive. His cerulean eyes matched his look perfectly, she couldn't help but feeling lost while looking at him. "Satisfied?" Sakura nodded which a faint blush on cheeks as the Death Knight tied the blindfold back on covering his eyes. _'He's cute...'_ thought the emerald eye girl.

"Do you still have any problems with your team, Sakura?" asked Iruka trying to get her attention. The girl shook her head blindly in response and sat back down. She was still looking at Naruto in shock, he was handsome. "Without further adieu, Team 8 would consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."

Meanwhile:

"What, I don't get teamed up with Sasuke-kun?" exclaimed Ino angrily yet silently.

"Whatever, Ino..." said Shikamaru lazily. "What's so good about him anyway?"

"At least Sakura didn't get him, that's all it matters."

"Yeah, keep thinking that so you would shut up about your ranting."

"Who would want to team up with you anyway?" retorted Ino. "Do you know why no girl likes you?"

"How would I know? I'm not a girl." Ino's eyebrow twitched in anger at Shikamaru's response. They did this really often but Ino never got used to it.

"Team 10," continued Iruka. "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru," Ino fumed even more at the fact she had to team up with Shikamaru. Outside she was angry, but inside she had a comfortable feeling being able to be with someone she knew very well. Shikamaru just yawned not caring at all. "And Akimichi Chouji. That would be all for teams. Now please meet your jounin instructors at the place they designated for you to meet them. Class will be dismissed and I wish you all good luck on your teams." Iruka said that and left the room. Soon, Naruto found out the meeting place they had was in this room. As most of the people left the room to their designated areas, Naruto moved down up front to rest with Hinata following him trying to give him a soft embrace. Naruto stopped as Hinata made contact with his body.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked a little startled by her actions. She felt his body stiffen a little.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," apologized Hinata stuttering with words. "I am just so happy that you're on my team..."

"You've been hiding your excitement haven't you, Hinata-chan?" questioned Naruto teasingly. She nodded smiling. She knew he could read her like a book, she couldn't hide anything. "Anyway, I'm glad you're on my team too." He then looked over to Sakura who sat there alone looking at nothing in particular.

"Should we invite her to come over?" suggested Hinata.

"Maybe we should."

"Hey, Sakura-san," called Hinata no louder than a whisper since she thought Sakura was still mad at her for beating her during the final test. In truth, the emerald eye girl wasn't. Hinata's voice caught the girl's attention. "We were wondering if you would like to chat with us?"

"Sure." Replied Sakura happily skipping down to their level.

"I really haven't introduced myself, have I?" said Naruto politely offering his hand for a handshake. "I am Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm Haruno Sakura," said the mentioned person returning the handshake. "You don't have to be that formal with me, Naruto. We are teammates after all."

"I insist. Hinata-chan and you could be like my sempais in this place since you girls have been here for so long. Besides, Jiraiya-sensei told me this is a good way to know one another." 'What a guy.' thought the two girls.

"May I ask you something?"

"Ask ahead, be my guest."

"Why... why do you wear a blindfold?" asked Sakura blushing while remembering his clear eyes. "I mean, you look so... good without it..." _'GOOD? Amongst every word you have to use good?' _screamed Inner Sakura_. 'Now he would think you're a weirdo!'_

"That'll be my little secret for now. Eventually I will tell you why. I'll say two things. I can see you right now and this blindfold isn't a phony." He then started to untie his blindfold to reveal his eyes again for the second time. However as he removed it, his eyes shined a bit of teal before turning back to blue. Both girls spotted this sudden change but decided to keep quiet for now. "Try it, Sakura-chan."

"Who allowed you to call me Sakura-chan?" asked the pink hair genin teasingly while taking the object.

"You don't like it? I could call you Sakura-san instead."

"No, no, you can call me that if you want..." replied the girl with a blush. "Sakura-chan sounds fine coming from you."

"Thanks for saying so." Naruto noticed the blush and wanted to smile since it looked real cute on her but on the other hand, he didn't want to make Hinata feel upset. As Sakura wrapped the cloth around her eyes and she couldn't see anything. Hinata then gave it a shot, she activated her bloodline ability the Byakugan. She could see through it then very clearly. She figured out it must've been something about his eyes that made him see through it. She handed back to the Death Knight and he quickly tied it back on his head with his forehead protector on top covering it a little.

'This guy is really good looking... and a lot more of a gentlemen than Sasuke-kun...' thought Sakura.

'Naruto-kun... I hope you tell me what those eyes of yours really are on day.' said Hinata to herself in thought. She wanted to know everything about him and he obviously could tell.

_'I know you want to know but I really don't know how you would react after knowing my heritage...' _The silver hair genin sighed at that thought and then took out a kunai for entertainment. It has been twenty minutes since the trio started waiting, all three of them decided to sit in the open area of the classroom. Naruto could feel the presence of the other genins already leaving the premises. His eyes showed him Sasuke's team left with a beautiful young female jounin with red eyes and Ino's team left with a man with a dark beard. What was Team 7 doing? They were still waiting for their jounin instructor. Hinata soon grew tired as she began to feel drowsy.

_'Looks like she was still pretty worn out from yesterday,' _thought Naruto seeing her yawn a little. Unknowingly, she fell asleep on the male genin's lap. The dark warrior's eyebrow raised a bit at the Hyuga girl's sudden action, he smiled at her while she closed her eyes breathing softly. He didn't know why, but he ran his hand through her silky hair, it was smooth, comfortable and the girl blushed when she felt his touch. He removed his own jacket and covered his friend so she wouldn't catch a cold. As he took off his jacket, he showed off his arms which were attractive to the emerald eyed girl. She could melt at the sight, he was very well built, not ridiculously wise but still very manly and appealing. Somehow, he looked at his bandaged right arm, something caught her eye. On his upper arm, their were brown stains on it, it was dried blood, she wondered what happened.

"Naruto-kun..." murmured the Hyuga girl nuzzling closer to the boy.

"Sleep well, Hinata-chan."

"Naruto..." called Sakura nervously.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto turning his head around with a smile. "Don't be so nervous around me, I won't hurt you. That's unless you want me to but I won't know why." She giggled at that remark.

"I know you won't. I just want to ask what happened to your arm?"

"This?" he asked looking at it.

"Yeah, it looked like a lot of blood came from it."

"It did, Sakura-chan. But, don't worry about it too much, it's not like the fact it happened to you."

"Mind if you tell me what happened?"

"It's a little embarrassing if you know what I mean."

"Oh, tell me!" the pink hair girl begged with puppy eyes. However, the Death Knight was one who could withstand that kind of begging. His little sister did it so many times that he learned how to resist it. "I promise I won't laugh."

"Well, I'll tell you but I'm still very certain that you would laugh anyway," said Naruto with a chuckle. "Okay, it happened a several days ago when I was doing my daily training. I was doing those upside down sit ups, you know when I hang upside down and it takes more effort but the training was worth it. So, anyway, I did that for about an hour or so, I was still fresh but that's where Jiraiya-sensei came in. In his point of view, it looked like that I fell into a trap and I tried to get myself out of it."

"But you clearly weren't."

"Correct. Being the dumbass that he is, he really thought I fell into a trap so he decided to 'help' me. Instead of coming to me directly, he tried to free me by tossing a kunai hoping to break the ropes. Due to his old eyesight, he missed and the weapon struck through my right arm."

"Did it hurt?" asked the pink hair genin holding his arm examining the wound.

"What do you think? Hell it did. If you value your life, don't let any dumbass be your sensei." Sakura giggled and Naruto smiled in return.

"Thanks for telling me, Naruto. And I want to apologize for what I did earlier..."

"You mean talking behind my back and how you didn't want to be on my team?" he questioned with a grin.

The girl yelped, she couldn't believe he knew. All she could do was nod slightly with guilt. The Death Knight gave her a pat on the shoulder which startled her. "It's okay, Sakura-chan, things happen." The girl gave a warm smile back, she was happy she was forgiven. It was a good start for this team, as long as their instructor arrived that is.

_**(Several irritating hours later, Naruto was on a verge to demolish something...)**_

Two long boring hours has past, Hinata was still sleeping sweetly resting her head on Naruto's lap while Sakura was sleeping next to him. The Death Knight sighed for he was getting tired himself. Then, he started to brush Hinata's hair without knowing. As he revealed that pretty face of hers, he was sort of in a trance. 'Hinata-chan is really pretty,' he thought. _'Wait... what am I doing? Damn, Jiraiya's influence is starting to get to me... must fight it... I can't think like that! But Hinata-chan is very pretty. She has a nice body too, small waist, good hips... NO! What the hell am I thinking? I am Naruto, I am not a pervert! Hinata-chan is your friend, so stop thinking about her like that!' _While Naruto was battling with himself, as if on que, someone opened the door to break his thoughts. He really needed that.

"Yo!" called a man with gray hair with a green jounin vest. Naruto being the only person awake at the moment, gave the jounin an unsatisfied look. The silver hair genin observed him closely as he took on step into the room. The guy was tall, he wore his forehead protector in a tilted fashion that covered his left eye. As if that wasn't mysterious enough, he wore a dark coloured face mask that covered obviously his face and his down to his neck. 'What's the matter with his face?' thought Naruto. "Hey, was I disturbing something?"

"Not at all." replied an annoyed Naruto. He wasn't pleased that his teacher was this late.

"You know, you look real cute with those two girls next to you."

"Be quiet, human," snapped the only male genin in the room. 'Great,' thought the jounin. 'I thought I picked a real good student but who knew that he was blind...' "Hey, I'm not blind." The gray hair jounin's visible eye opened a little bit more than usual, he was quite surprised.

"Aren't you going to wake those two up? I don't like to waste time."

"We waited for you for over two hours, five more minutes wouldn't make much of a difference." As Naruto took a glimpse at the jounin standing a several feet away from him, he didn't like what he saw. Judging by the way the gray hair man was looking at Sakura and Hinata, he must've been thinking how lucky he was to have two pretty girls to supervise. With that action alone, the dark warrior knew his instructor was a pervert. He sighed inwardly and decided to wake the girls up. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, wake up." he said shaking them both gently. Their eyes started to open just to see Naruto's smile. Hinata blushed like a strawberry realizing her head was on Naruto's lap while Sakura rubbed her eyes from the tiring feeling.

"YOU"RE LATE!" shouted the pink hair genin loudly pointing her finger at the one visible eyed jounin. That burst of output startled the crap out of her teammates. Maybe only Hinata.

"Yeah, sorry..." explained the jounin scratching the back of head with a nervous chuckle. "You see, I was lost in the road of life and..."

"LIAR!"

"Yeah..." he coughed. "Whatever, I want some fresh air, let's go on to the roof." With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke. Sakura groaned with irritation and stomped her way to the roof while Naruto formed a set of hand seals and disappeared in a warp. The lavender eyed girl blinked with confusion not knowing where her friend went. It didn't matter too much since her Byakugan showed her he was on higher ground. The two girls made it on the roof moments later just to find the two males glaring at each other not exactly enjoying each other's presence.

"Sensei..." asked Hinata shyly. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're cool," said the jounin breaking eye contact with Naruto. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be worrying so much." That comment made the Hyuga heiress blush and looked to the ground trying to hide it from the guys. The Death Knight muttered pervert under his breath and made his way to his teammates. The instructor sat on the railing so he could see all his students with his visible eye. He grinned under his mask knowing this would be a very interesting team. "So, we should start with an introduction. Tell me your names, likes, dislikes and goals in the future. This would help all of us know each other better."

"Maybe we could start with you, sensei," suggested Sakura. "We don't even know who you are."

"Fine, I am Hatake Kakashi, I like a lot of things which is my secret and for you to find out. I dislike a lot of things too but I have no intention of telling you. My dreams are none of your concern." The three genin's eyes narrowed. After what Kakashi has said, he told them nothing other than his name. One thing was for certain, Naruto knew Kakashi was a pervert and he liked being one.

"Me, my turn!" exclaimed Sakura. "I am Haruno Sakura, I am thirteen. I like... _'Sasuke-kun!' _shouted Inner Sakura happily. My dream is to be... _'With Sasuke-kun! Hell yeah!' _thought her inner self yelling victoriously. I don't dislike many things, other than Ino-pig maybe." After that introduction, Naruto just laughed silently since he heard every word Inner Sakura said. He found it amusing.

"What's so funny, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata tugging his arm to get his attention. Sakura looked at him blankly.

"Nothing," answered the silver hair genin shaking it all off quickly. "It's your turn, Hinata-chan."

"Okay... I'm Hyuga Hinata, age 12. I like many things such as my cousin and..." she then looked at Naruto with a slight blush and quickly looked away. "I also like people who are supportive..." she glanced at the Death Knight again with an even more noticeable blush. "I dislike my family for rejecting me..." that caught everyone's attention, Naruto clearly saw what she meant. "My dream is to be with the person I admire..."

"Who's this person?" questioned Sakura in a joking tone.

"I... um... uh..." The Hyuga girl had a lot of trouble maintaining her words clear. At that time, Naruto knew Hinata was secretly signalling for help.

"She'll tell you when she's ready," said Naruto not wanting Hinata to feel obligated to answer that question. "Now, I am Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi's eye twitched a little when he heard his name, especially Uzumaki. He couldn't believe there was a survivor of that traitorous clan. He remained calm successfully, not wanting his students know his worries. "I'm 12, turning 13 sooner or later. I like ramen, my true friends and my little sister (AN: An OC, you'll know about her later, she does show up in this story.) who lives in the Hidden Village of Air. I dislike perverts," 'Yeah, Kakashi and Jiraiya' he thought. "And overconfident imbeciles. I don't have much of a dream, maybe just to follow my father's footsteps."

"Good," said Kakashi. "Now, before I accept you all as genins, there would be a test tomorrow that you three must complete. If you pass, you three would be officially be on my team."

"Why do we need to do that?" asked Sakura rather quickly.

"Didn't we pass the genin exam already?" added Hinata feeling worried.

"You guys will cry at what I have to say," said Kakashi chuckling.

"Just say it," demanded Naruto not finding his humour funny. "I have no time for games."

"Fine. The test you will be completing tomorrow would have a 66 chance failing system."

"What?" the three genins gasped in unison with Naruto's more of a statement.

"The reason to this is that only 9 genins out of the original 27 students from the graduate class could be official genins after every graduation. The rest would be sent back to the academy and try again next year," explained the jounin rather amused. "We can't have that many jounins being occupied with kids since we need to do missions as well to maintain the prosperity of Konoha. Obviously, those who aren't worthy would be sent back unquestioned. Oh yeah, if one of you don't show up tomorrow, I have no choice but to fail the entire team." 'Not like you three would pass anyway...' thought Kakashi evilly.

"Don't worry, Kakashi," said Naruto without adding sensei deliberately. "We'll be there."

"Glad to hear that. The meeting place will be the open area in the forest where the memorial statue is located. Arrive there at 7AM and be on time. The rest of the day is yours to rest and prepare. Ja!" As soon as Kakashi finished, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The Death Knight didn't waste any time either. Once his instructor left, he made his way to the exit door.

"Naruto-kun, wait!" called a timid voice causing the boy to turn around. The person was none other than Hinata.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" asked the silver hair genin.

"I was just wondering..." the girl was extremely nervous.

"Wondering if I want have ramen with you?" asked the boy finishing her sentence with a grin on his face.

"Yes... would you like to go with me? I mean you don't have to if you already have plans, I'll understand..." Her anxiety level was above the charts and she was blushing like a cute cherry. Her small hands playing with her index fingers really made her look adorable. The heiress closed her eyes nervously hoping Naruto wouldn't say anything mean. Instead she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I would love to go with you," said the dark warrior with a genuine smile.

"You would?" Her eyes were sparkling with delight.

"Yeah, it'll be my treat."

"No, you can't do that, you treated me to dinner last night. It's only fair if I paid this time." she stated clearly with no stuttering whatsoever.

"How did we solve conflicts when we were kids?" he asked trying to remember.

"We never had any conflicts... how about we play rock, paper, scissors? Winner decides?"

"Deal." Both of them then took out their fist and prepared for the duel of the century. 'Poor little boys, always pick rock.' thought Hinata sinisterly. 'Yep, good ol' rock, nothing beats rock.' said Naruto confidently in his head. As they counted to three, they showed their result.

"Paper." said Hinata.

"Scissors." said the other. "You thought I was going to pick rock, ne, Hinata-chan?"

"That's not fair!" exclaimed Hinata blushing.

"Not fair?" he asked in disbelief. "You are getting a free lunch, I wouldn't complain if I were you."

"I suppose you're right..." she admitted in defeat. The boy smiled a little and gave a quick farewell to Sakura before taking off. It would be rude to just leave without saying goodbye. After the two friends left, Sakura just sighed knowing she had no place to go. So she decided to head home and prepare herself for tomorrow.

_**(Moments later at Ichikaru's Ramen)**_

"Yo, Mr. Ichikaru," greeted Naruto putting a grin on his face. "You still remember me?" The owner of the shop and his daughter Ayane (AN: If that is her name, tell me. I don't really remember.) took a close observation. They never recalled serving anyone who was blind before. However, judging by Naruto's voice, he seemed to know them. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable by the stares the Death Knight was getting, he realized why they didn't recognize him. "Maybe this would help." He then removed his blindfold to show them his cerulean eyes. The store workers gasped in awe.

"Naruto," said Ayane lightening up with surprise. "Is that really you?" The boy gave a nod along with a small grin. "We haven't seen you in ages, the last time I saw you I was like 10."

"Yeah, I know."

"Where have you been all this time?" questioned Mr. Ichikaru with curiosity.

"Training for 7 years, nothing special. Enough about me, I want a bowl of shrimp ramen if I may."

"Sure you can but what about that young lady behind you?" A sudden realization struck Naruto as he remembered his friend was here too, he nearly forgot about her.

"Hinata-chan, I'm sorry. I forgot you were here..." he apologized with guilt. The girl shook her head slightly.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun... I'm just glad to be here..." she said kindly. 'My heart is beating so fast... I can't believe Naruto-kun is treating me two days in a row, this is heaven... I think I'm going to faint...'

"Hinata-chan," Naruto spoke with a quiet laugh. "I can hear you heartbeat from here."

"Eh?" The girl then placed her hand to her heart. Holy it was beating fast, a little too fast. Knowing that was a bad thing for the girl, the boy embraced her gently, telling her to relax from time to time. His unexpected contact startled the Hyuga girl at first but when she found out he was trying to help, she couldn't help herself but to hug him back. When he assumed she was okay, he broke the embrace which made the girl let out a silent groan of annoyance and disappointment. "You okay now?"

"Yeah..."

"If you didn't relax and calm down, you would've died of high blood pressure." he stated as a joke.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun... may I have the same thing as you?"

"Fine. We'll have two shrimp ramen then." said the Death Knight to the owner.

"No problem," replied Ayane then giving Naruto an evil smile. "Naruto, you sure have a way to deal with your girlfriend." she teased amusingly. Hinata blushed like mad when she heard that g-word, but the cerulean eyed boy didn't react at all.

"Let's drop that subject," he stated calmly. Ayane just shrugged and went with the flow. Within a several minutes, their orders arrived. In another few minutes, the dark shinobi consumed all the food. It was somewhat scary but he was never the person who liked to take their time on things unless he really had to. Naruto sat in silence where Hinata slowly ate hers and took glimpses at him whenever he wasn't looking, which was often. 'His eyes are so beautiful...' thought the heiress dreamily. "I could look at it all day long and won't get sick of it. He's kind, gentle, considerate, sincere... good looking, any girl would fall for him. Even the whisker marks on his face became more faint. He's so nice to me, when can I tell him my true feelings? He's in front of me, we are alone, should I confess to him? What if he rejects me because I am too forward... if he hates me afterwards, what would I do? I can't let that happen, I just can't...' At that exact moment, Naruto was having thoughts of his own. His master wanted a little chat with him.

'Hello, Death Knight,' called a voice in his head. It was a girl, a beautiful young girl.

'Master, what brings you here at a time like this?' asked Naruto a bit surprised.

'Call me Kyubi-chan, my little dark one.' Kyubi, the demon within Naruto was his master. The one who granted him dark powers beyond imaginable and the runeblade Nightshadow. (AN: I made Kyubi into a girl, no specific reason, I just felt it would be better this way.)

'Kyubi-chan doesn't sound like something an apprentice would call to his master.'

'Don't think of me as your master, think of me as your friend.' said the fox in her humanoid form giving him a cheerful grin.

'Whatever,' he stated. 'Still, what brings you here at this time?'

'Nothing, watching you score with girls is something very entertaining?' she answered with a smirk.

'When did I try to flirt with girls?'

'Don't deny it, my little dark one.'

'What kind of ideas are you trying to give me? I am a Death Knight, not a women magnet. I was never one and I don't intend to start now.'

'Sure, whatever you say.' she said not too convinced.

'I have to say, unlike all the Death Knights, I don't seem to have lost my mind from your influence. I should be following your every command and obey them without question. I am a warrior for crying out loud, I need your guidance to my vengeance.'

'Naruto,' she said seriously. 'I don't need you to do anything reckless, my powers are yours to keep but not for you to do something like a massacre. You are the last of the Uzumaki clan, I don't want to ruthlessly sacrifice you. You've shown me kindness even in the most crucial moments in life, you changed me, I won't allow my old ways to take over you. Remember what I told you?'

'Yeah, you and I are one, you feel what I feel.'

'There are so many times I wish I did the right thing... I should never have tempted a kind soul like yourself...' Kyubi admitted with much guilt.

'What do you mean?' he asked with concern.

'I should've never tempted you, I should've allowed you to know how to fight the darkness within yourself so you would become a Paladin. Now, you are a hated Death Knight...'

'Don't worry about it, Kyubi-chan. If I was a Paladin, I don't think I would like it as much.'

'You see good in everything, don't you?'

'No, I don't. There's nothing for you to regret about, it was my decision.' he said reassuringly.

'You were only 6 back then, I should never have done this to you. Your physical corruption, your demonic blood, your deathly demonic chakra, the Death Knight's powers have truly turned you into a half demon. I am responsible for ruining your life!' she was basically yelling at this point.

'You didn't ruin my life, Kyubi-chan,' he then grabbed her shoulders looking directly in her eyes. 'Look, I am glad you gave me those powers. I was too young back then to handle my own problems and chose the wrong way to achieve a solution, that's why I was tempted. It's not your fault, it's what demons do.'

'Naruto!' she cried and started to sob on his chest. 'I'm so sorry...'

'Kyubi-chan, don't cry... it's not good for your apprentice to see you like this.' he said calmly.

'You have no idea how guilty I feel,' she continued to cry. 'It's all my fault! I can't let it go!'

'There, there, it's okay.' He then rubbed her back trying to bring his master back together.

'You became a half demon because of me, I'm not worthy of your kindness. I should rot in hell for doing something like this.' she said bitterly cursing herself every second that passed by.

'Kyubi-chan, listen to me,' ordered the Death Knight losing part of his patience. 'If I didn't have this power, I would've never been able to save Jiraiya or my sister's lives. I thank you master. The powers of this dark warrior is perfect for me, my vengeance is yours. I accepted this power willingly in the past and I take full responsibility of it. I wanted this power for my revenge, Konoha will pay for what they did to me.'

'Don't set your heart on vengeance, Naruto... just forget about it... live your life as happily as you can.'

'I can't do that,' he replied angrily. 'I am no Paladin, these fools have nothing to do with me.'

'What about Hinata?' asked Kyubi suddenly. 'What would she think about that?'

'Why did you bring her up?'

'Answer my question, Naruto.'

'She's my friend, my only true friend.' he answered without further questions.

'I'm certain she won't like it if she sees you in your most powerful demonic form.'

'You don't mean...'

'Yes I am,' she said seriously. 'Your vengeance is too great, Naruto. That dark spirit within yourself feed on that hate and resentment. Don't allow it to take over you or you would face a case of the Metamorphosis.'

'There is another way for the Metamorphosis to occur?' he asked worriedly. She nodded slowly. 'Could my vengeance go that far as if that could happen?'

'Of course it could.'

'I can't allow Hinata-chan be in danger...' he said realizing what his master was getting at.

'If you live a life with the goal of hatred, you have no idea how much more blood would be stained on your hands.' reminded the demon master cautiously.

'How do I thin out this vengeance?' asked Naruto wanting a solution.

'You could start with a smile every morning instead of shattering your poor alarm clock.' suggested Kyubi.

'That's a pretty tall order. Can't I start with a smirk and work my way up?' That alone resulted an immediate death glare from his master. The Death Knight sweatdropped. 'Fine, fine , fine, you win. I'll try to smile, okay?' Kyubi smiled happily while her apprentice sighed in exhaustion. 'Thanks anyway, master.'

'Call me Kyubi-chan, my little dark one.' she giggled as she gave him a hug.

'Sure thing.'

'Hinata is calling you, Naruto. Treat her as the most precious person in your life.'

'That sounds awfully familiar, what did you mean by that?'

'You'll find out soon enough, I'll find you later.' As Kyubi finished her sentence, she slowly vanished bringing back the Death Knight to reality.

**_(Meanwhile)_**

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun," said Hinata shaking his arm slightly. "Are you okay?"

"What is it?" he asked coldly still trying to regain his focus in reality.

"You didn't respond when I called you for over a minute."

"Sorry, I was just in deep thought. I must've been in another zone..."

"I thought you were dead. You didn't blink, your pulse was a lot slower than before. Don't scare me like that."

"Die? Me?" he asked amused. "Get real. Death Knights don't die that easily."

"Death Knight?" she questioned confused. "What is that?" The silver hair boy then realized he said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"Nothing, Hinata-chan," he said trying to change the subject. "Looks like you're done your meal, let's get going." However, Hinata gave a firm grip on his arm not allowing him to leave. "Hinata-chan, what are you doing?"

"Naruto-kun, tell me who you are," she demanded softly. "I've so many questions I want to ask you, please tell me."

"It's none of your business, Hinata-chan," he snapped rudely.

"Naruto-kun, I'm your friend, you can trust me. I missed you so much, can't I at least know what happened to you all these 7 years? How you became this strong, why is your hair silver and why are your attacks all so death like?" Naruto's eyes widened a bit hearing her last question.

"You saw my move the Death Coil?" he asked raising his eyebrow.

"I saw you after I drank the stuff you gave me... what was that Death Coil anyway?"

"It's my healing technique, Hinata-chan."

"It looked more like death itself has devoured you... it was scary. How could you call that healing?"

"I felt better afterwards, that's all it matters, okay?"

"No, it's not. Who are you anyway?" He saw the emotional pain in her eyes when she asked him. He couldn't bare to watch it. the last thing he ever wanted to do was to hurt his best friend. By not telling her, he was hurting her. Despite how much he didn't want to tell her, he had to say something. In the end he gave in, but he decided he would tell her only a little bit.

"I am a Death Knight, one who accepted power from my master and what she wanted was my loyalty. It's the least I could do. She granted me plenty of very rare Hidden Techniques that she possesses and she is still giving me more today. More importantly, she gave me this runeblade and forged most of the techniques in here." He then took out his blade from his sheath. "This weapon here contains much more magic than you can imagine. This thing has become part of me, a critical object in my life that I can't live without. You possess one of those Hidden moves as well, Hinata-chan. The Mana Burn is something my master taught me. You know, this blade was forged with pure chakra."

"Pure chakra? Is that why you could execute moves with this blade?" she asked curiously.

"Exactly."

"I could feel a dark aura coming out of this blade... I am worried about you."

"Well, I could execute my Hidden Techniques with or without this blade. However, there are some attacks that I have to use this to cast, like my trademark techniques." he explained.

"Can I learn it?"

"My Hidden Techniques? Sure thing but my trademark moves you can't learn it. In fact, I can't even teach you because you don't have the blood, just like how I can never learn the Byakugan. You like it if I taught you some more useful moves in the future?"

"I would like that, do you promise?"

"I wouldn't lie." he stated simply giving her a grin.

"Okay... but your energies are so dark though... I am afraid it may hurt you in some way..." she said in a worried expression which made Naruto sigh a bit.

"I've wield it for 6 years, Hinata-chan, I can control it fine."

"I trust you, Naruto-kun." She certainly had a lot of faith in her admirer. Somehow, she knew he would be just fine. Naruto was just glad Hinata didn't find anything suspicious even though he didn't tell her the entire truth. However, the Hyuga girl knew there was a lot more Naruto wasn't telling her but she decided to drop it for the time being. She didn't want Naruto to feel pressured into doing something he didn't want to do.

"Hinata-chan, we have a big day ahead of us, we should get going." She agreed giving a nod as Naruto paid the bill. As the two walked together down the streets of Konoha back to the Hyuga estate, Hinata wanted to hold the boy's hand. But Naruto played dumb and pretended not to know what she was trying to do when he clearly did. The heiress was disappointed at that. Seeing her semi-pouting expression, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Once the lavender eyed girl was escorted home safely, the Death Knight bid a short farewell and walked back to his place to rest so he would be 100 ready for the task ahead.

While walking, he smiled as he remembered that smiling face of his best friend. She looked radiant and sincere, that was a face he wanted to witness from her ever since he was young. Whenever Hinata smiled, it always seemed so depressing. When she was with him, she would smile like an angel from the heavens, it was so beautiful that no one could resist. Smiling again, he looked back at the Hyuga mansion over his shoulder. His grin became wider when at the corner of his eye he saw Hinata's head sticking out slightly, he knew she was watching him. Not blowing her cover, Naruto simply continued walking with a smile still plastered on his visage. 'Good night, Hinata-chan,' he said in his mind as he melded into the dark shadows of the night.

**AN: A long chapter done at long last. Longest one so far with over 6000 words. I'm sure the ones in the chunnin exam would be a dread to write. I have the story written out by hand already, so it isn't that hard to write the fic out. All your suggestions are great, luckily, al of them could be interpreted into my story. The next chapter would take a bit longer for me to deal with since it would be long as well. The reason I could update it so quickly is that I written a few chapters ahead of time and let some people revise it before I post it. Which means I already had stuff available to post, now I have to continue from scratch. Sorry if my plot is going so slow, I just need to get the important things out of the way first. I hope all of you would be patient and here is a small foreshadow for you all. There will definitely be Hinata and Sakura rivalry, that's why I put two girls on his team. It would make this story so much more interesting. JUTSU LIST UPDATED! The next chapter, what do you think it is? I'll just do a good job at keeping you all in suspence.**


	5. Unforeseen Competition

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 5: Unforeseen Competition_

Disclaimer: I am getting tired of writing this, but it's needed. I don't own Naruto or his characters and I don't own Warcraft 3 and their abilities. I am just a crazy writer! If you decide to sue me, you are jeapordizing the future of this fiction!

"...": Speech

_'...'_: Thoughts

Scene Change is listed in the bolded Italics because this site messes up fonts! Damn...

_**AN: Sorry for the 'late' update, this has been a dread to complete. Okay, thanks for your reviews people, I am so glad you all liked it! You all are such a curious bunch! Maybe it's just I wasn't specific enough, I'll try harder, I promise! I know you all have plenty of questions and I have answers to a lot of them. Looks like I have a lot of explanation to do. Here it is, the first Question and Answer Period.**_

Question and Answer Period, yes, a good time where all your questions are answered in one way or another.

_**Q: Why does Sasuke have the Sharingan this early?**_

A: There are two appropriate answers for this. The first is the fact he is the Uchiha genius, I thought developing it early was a true sign that he was a powerful Uchiha. In fact, he truly is. Second, remember Sasuke isn't a member of Team 7 anymore, he won't be a big part of the story until the chunnin exam begins. So, you have to know he has to have the Sharingan before the Wave country thing. I know it was a little sudden but what could I do? I have my own flaws and mistakes too. Thanks for pointing some of it out.

_**Q: Why does Naruto seem to be so invulnerable?**_

A: Trust me, he's not invincible at all. He may be very strong but he isn't close to perfect any time soon. No human or half demon half-human in his case could be perfect. Just watch closely and his flaws would show gradually.

_**Q: Why did Naruto tell his secret to Hinata so quickly?**_

A: Smart people would know that they are very close and trust each other deeply. If you people have read carefully, Naruto didn't tell Hinata enough information. He hid a lot of things from her. The major stuff that he still had to tell her are his true identity of a Death Knight, he is a half demon, his dangerous Metamorphosis ability, his master is the demon who terrorized Konoha 12 years ago, he has his master within himself... he is the demon, why he actually became like this and a lot more. IF he told her things that she could actually follow up, she would be still asking him questions. He knows it pains her to see that she can't know everything about him, he had to say something to satisfy her for the time being. As far as he's concerned, the girl knows nothing about the demon Kyubi and he likes it this way.

_**Q: Why did I make Kyubi like what she is?**_

A: I did it to lighten up the mood, I found it a little annoying if Kyubi was a jerk and tempted him all the time to lust. I know the fox is a demon and all but it would be much better if the two compromised. I hope that answers at least part of the question.

_**Q: Will there be Sakura and Hinata rivalry?**_

A: YES, of course there would be! If there wouldn't, what would be the point if two girls weren't on his team? Anyway, I had a really hard time trying to write out the rivalries and there would be sides of everyone that you might not expect. When the jealousy and envy begins, which is soon, it would be total chaos and hell for the poor silver hair genin. How far would the girls go to get Naruto? Who would he choose? If I told you now, that would seriously ruin the story. So please continue to read my future chapters.

_**Q: Why didn't I make the teams into Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto?**_

A: If I did, the triangle conflict between Sakura, Hinata and Naruto could never begin. If Sakura was separated, the rivalry would be impossible. Sure, I could make Sasuke and Naruto battle it out for their love for Hinata if I wanted to but this Naruto isn't one who cares about romance and he wouldn't make a move at all. Seeing guys fight for a girl like 5 year-olds disturb me. Watching girls battle it out was so much easier for me to write. Sorry for those who wanted the team of Uchiha, Hyuga and Uzumaki. It would've been a too powerful team.

_**Q: Can his runeblade be destroyed?**_

A: The answer is no, no further explanation would be needed.

_**Q: Would I be writing this fic including the Wave country incident?**_

A: Even I don't know yet. If I do write it, it would take a hell of a time for me to write it since I didn't write out the written draft, so it would take me a really long to update. I am starting from absolutely nothing if I do write it. Besides, I didn't like the Haku and Zabuza story too much, not enough characters. That doesn't mean I don't like Haku though, don't get me wrong. I want to get straight to the chunnin exam as soon as possible since that was my favorite part of the entire Naruto series. If you strongly want it in here, I will put it into consideration but don't get your hopes too high.

**_Q: Why didn't I have the incident of Konohamaru in here_**?

A: Easily said, that episode might be funny and all but at the same time it was utterly stupid. I mean, why would this cool and collected Naruto even bother using the sexy-no-jutsu in front of the Hokage or even be retarded enough to teach the boy such a perverted move? He does know it nonetheless but he would never, ever use it. It was all thanks to Jiraiya that he has it. He may have used it when he was a kid to seduce Jiraiya but nowadays death glares just do the job so much better.

_**Q: Why is my title what it is?**_

A: I wanted to call it something to do with the exiled, betrayal, darkness, hatred, death and stuff like that. But using death the word wasn't too great of an idea since I would use it really often in this fic. I wanted to use a word that would describe his dark past but don't necessarily use the exact words to express it. Also, using a word that was rare would make my fic sound original. I know the alternate life of Naruto wasn't the most original idea, there are a few such as Faith in Humanity, New Life, Same Destiny, Beginning Anew that are still being written as I speak but I wanted my title to be different. So, I found the word downfall somewhere in the thesaurus thanks to my good friend. No one used it so far and I figured Naruto hated the light. So, I made it Downfall of the Light. The reason is Naruto's decision to discard the light of the Paladin out of his life.

_**Q: Does Naruto know the Rasengan? Does he know any other summoning techniques?**_

A: Yes and yes. The boy definitely knows that move but there's no need for him to show that yet, it's too early in the game to show his full potential. Is Rasengan his most ultimate move? Of course not, he has plenty of moves that are stronger than that. The Rasengan is still a very versatile move nonetheless. The reason I want Naruto to have different summoning techniques is that I have a lot of trouble picturing his Death Knight self summoning a toad. It's just wrong and doesn't make him look appealing in any way. I don't even care if he doesn't know how to summon the boss toad, he will be summoning something different for certain. It will obviously be something much more cooler than a toad.

**MORE AN: Damn, that was a hell lot of questions for me to answer. For those who believed this was just a little intermission, well, you are wrong! I do have a chapter! You can say this was a small scene while they waited for Kakashi to arrive to begin their test. In this chapter, this is when the jealousy and envy develop between the two girls. A must read chapter! Now without further adieu, on with the show. Come on, go, enjoy it while you can. You can't take anything from me. Except my life, except my life... except my life. What a line from Hamlet...**

**_(The very early morning in the Haruno Residence)_**

The morning of the important event arrived a lot faster than expected, Sakura woke up from her sleep which felt only like a several minutes. She glanced at her pink alarm clock, it said 6 AM. After a quick yawn, she made her way to the bathroom and did her daily routines. (AN: I won't even bother telling you what they are, what would a girl do in the bathroom? There is only so much a teenage girl would do.) As soon as she got dressed, she made her way to the kitchen and fixed herself a quick breakfast so she wouldn't starve to death later on the day. When she finished her last bite, she rushed out of her house without saying goodbye to her parents since they weren't awake yet. Not like she really cared, they talked too much anyway. She observed the early morning of Konoha, it was quite empty at that time. Some of the shops were starting to open and there were some ANBUs on guard duty. Sakura ignored them and decided to head to the training grounds at the time the team was expected to arrive. By the time she made it to the forest safely, her watch told her it was 6:45. She was early so she might as well wait for the other two. Suddenly, she heard something, it sounded like the sounds of combat.

"Who would be fighting at a time like this?" she asked herself while walking towards the direction of where the noises came from. She soon found herself near the edge of an open area, there was a memorial there, that must've been the place Kakashi was talking about. What caught her attention was actually the two people who were dueling, it was Naruto and a replication of himself. It was an interesting match, both of them were evenly matched. 'Wow' she thought blushing while hiding behind a tree timidly. _'He seems so strong like that... he's so cool...'_ The real Death Knight then unexpectedly tossed his blade right at where Sakura was hiding once he sensed an unknown presence. With his eyes, he should've been able to recognize it was Sakura but since he never sensed her chakra fully, he thought it was an enemy. The blade struck the tree hard causing it to shake a bit. Sakura knew she was spotted at that point, she might as well reveal herself to him.

"Who's there?" questioned Naruto immediately as he attracted his blade back to his hand.

"It's just me, Naruto..." said Sakura coming from behind the tree showing herself.

"Sakura-chan?" he asked quite surprised. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Early? You should know it's nearly 7, Naruto."

"Is it?" She nodded with a smile. Suddenly, he felt kind of awkward. "I'm sorry for what I just did, I thought you were an enemy..."

"Forget it, I shouldn't have been spying on you like that."

"Spying?" he asked with a visible grin. A blush then crept on her face.

"I mean..." Her face was hot at this time. "I mean... you were training so hard so I didn't want to disturb you until you were done! I am sorry!" The Death Knight simply gave her a smile.

"I understand what you meant, Sakura-chan. Thanks for being considerate." The pink haired girl just blushed and attempted to hide her flushed face. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed.

"Why were you here so early?" she asked shyly. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Sakura sounded a lot like Hinata when she talked to him. 'Sakura-chan is just feeling too awkward from what she said,' he thought.

"I was training just now."

"I'm sorry that I interrupted your training..." she apologized quickly.

"Don't be. Well, I think you shouldn't have came so early this morning..."

"You don't like my company? I could leave if you want." 'Why is she talking like Hinata all of a sudden?' he thought confused. 'She wasn't like that yesterday.'

"No, I don't mean that. It's just... it's not like Kakashi would show up anytime soon. I assume he would be at least 3 to 4 hours late. Training happened to be something I could do to kill time before that bastard comes."

"Bastard? Who's this bastard?"

"Kakashi, who else?"

"Why do you call him that though?"

"Because he's a pervert. I know perverts when I see one." That made Sakura giggle cutely.

"I don't he is one." she told him innocently. Naruto just sighed at her innocence, she didn't catch anything.

"He was looking at your chest yesterday as much as he could while you weren't looking," said the dark warrior bluntly. "Did you even know that?" Sakura immediately covered her chest with her arms blushing.

"You weren't looking at me like that, were you?" she questioned him with a glare.

"Why would I do that?" was Naruto's response.

"Because you're a guy!"

"I wouldn't do anything that stupid as to jeopardizing our friendship before it starts," He then slid his blade back into his sheath and made his clone disappear. "I don't want you to hate me, I won't do something that vulgar."

"Did you say you want to be my friend?" asked Sakura happily holding his arm nearly jumping up and down. "Don't lie, I know you did!" Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly at her actions, of course he turned away so the pink hair girl wouldn't see it. However, she knew he blushed.

"Yeah..." he replied not knowing what else to say.

"Then it's settled, we are friends!" she declared proudly. The boy just chuckled.

"Sure thing." The Death Knight looked at the eyes of the girl next to him, she quickly had a shade of fuchsia when her eyes met his. "Sakura-chan, I suggest you take a nap before Kakashi comes, that is if you didn't have enough sleep."

"If I take a nap, would you do anything to me?"

"Other than giving you blanket so you won't catch a cold." He answered with a grin.

"Thanks, but I don't need a nap."

"That's not what your eyes are telling me, Sakura-chan." She jerked a bit at what she just heard. In reality, she was tired but she didn't want to admit it. Now that the boy knows, there was no use hiding it anymore. However, she was amazed how quick Naruto caught on. "And one more thing," he continued. "On the night before an early mission, you shouldn't spend the entire day bickering with Ino so much. It wears you out the next day." 'This is impossible,' thought Sakura in shock. 'How could he have known what I did yesterday after he left? Was he spying on me? Did he stalk me? No, he was with Hinata-san, there was no way he could've did that. Did he use one of his clones to follow me? No, why would he even bother doing something that lame. Screw this, I am confusing myself...'

"Naruto," said Sakura shaking her head to shut off her thoughts. "I'm going to take a nap, would you wake me up later?"

"No problem." Soon, Sakura picked a good spot under a tree and went into her sleeping position. As promised, the boy took out a blanket from his pack that he brought and gave it to the girl so she wouldn't get cold. She quickly blushed as she felt the boy covering her gently. Not knowingly, she held his hand not wanting to let go. The Death Knight's eyebrow raised just a bit and smiled at the sleeping girl in front of him. "Sleep well, Sakura-chan." He then slowly removed his hand out of the girl's surprisingly tight grip. Once he freed himself, he went off to do his own thing nearby. He decided to do some meditation exercises to increase his chakra control. He sat down at a preferred spot and began to channel chakra throughout his body.

The meditation served two purposes. The first one was that it trained him to sustain his chakra within himself and enabled him to know how to use the chakra effectively. A better example would be that since he was learning how to generate chakra through his body, he knows how much chakra he should be using for each situation. Naruto may be strong but his control wasn't perfect. Second, this meditation opened the gates of Kyubi's abilities, this was the only way he could learn all her Hidden Techniques and it took time and research to understand each one. At this point, Naruto wasn't even close in learning all of his master's moves. Kyubi had a lot to offer to the boy. Consider this meditation to be a search and discover mission.

**_(Meanwhile with the Hyuga heiress)_**

Hinata was determined this morning, she was determined to pass the test her instructor was going to give them. Not only that, she made a choice, she decided to have courage in herself to be more direct to Naruto. She couldn't allow the one she loved to be in the hands of another girl no matter what. Even though she was shy, quiet and timid, it didn't mean that she would give up her love that easily. The heiress of the Hyuga arrived at the training area 10 minutes after 7 just to find both her teammates were already there. However, she was somewhat surprised to her jounin sensei was nowhere to be found. At that moment, the Death Knight opened one eye just to see his best friend was here. He released the chakra into his body stopping his meditating since he knew it would be impossible for him to continue if Hinata was here.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," greeted Hinata with a bright smile. The boy simply acknowledged her by opening his eye looking at her at the corner of it.

"Yeah, morning..." he said dully still trying to regain his senses. "Did you have a good night's rest?"

"I did, I had a beautiful dream last night..." she answered dreamily sitting next to him.

"Really? What was it about?" She then blindly wrapped her arms around his, leaning her head on his shoulder. Naruto jerked a little at what she was doing. He wanted to push her away at that second but her eyes were once again soothingly demanding. She was ordering him to allow her do what she was doing indirectly. He simply gave in knowing what kind of result he would get if he didn't. Somehow, the demon boy felt that she did it naturally without hassle.

"I don't remember, Naruto-kun..." she answered blindly with a heavenly tone. "I just know it was really nice." The Death Knight silently agreed. However it wasn't long before the Hyuga girl began to move closer to him. The boy didn't catch this yet until it was too late when she was hugging him.

"Hinata-chan..." _'What is she doing?'_ he thought panicking. When it came to girls, he was utterly clueless.

"Can you hug me back?" she asked with much emotions of love in her voice. Not knowing what to do, he did as he was told. He could feel her body soften as he wrapped his hand on her back. She was soft and easy to hold. He couldn't believe how soft she really was, the feeling was most divine. Her pale lavender eyes showed a lot of love and care at that moment, it was genuine and sincere. She hugged him tighter with more passion and dug her head into his chest. A shade of crimson appeared on the dark shinobi's face, he was completely lost.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked when his chest felt a little wet, he knew she was crying.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun... I can't believe this is actually happening..."

"What is happening?" he asked with most confusion.

"I thought I lost you forever, Naruto-kun... you suddenly left Konoha one day and you left me behind not even letting me know where you went or even why you decided to leave. I missed you since the day I no longer saw you. I thought you would never return to me. Now you are here, right in front of me, on the same genin team when our chances of even being together was slim. You know how happy I am right now to know this isn't a dream? This is real, this isn't just my fantasy, you are really here..."

"How much did my absence hurt you?" he asked with guilt still embracing her.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun. What matters right now is that you are with me." She then hugged him tightly once again. He knew she didn't want this embrace to end so soon. However, his mind was telling him even he didn't want to let this go either. _'Why am I feeling this way?'_ he thought. _'Do I like Hinata more than just a friend? How come I don't want this to end? Why do I want her to feel safe and secure? Do I care that much for her?' _Many questions flowed around his mind at that split second, for the first time in his life, he never felt that lost in confusion_. 'No, my head is just playing games with me...'_ Despite what he thought, a sense of care was there in his mind.

"Hinata-chan..."

"Yes?" she asked with a soothing tone.

"I'll make you a promise..."

"What is it?"

"You have been waiting for so long, Hinata-chan... you have been waiting for me for all this time. I know my depart must've had a huge impact on you. I couldn't believe I made such a selfish decision and never even thought about my best friend. I will make it up to you, I promise you that I won't leave like that unnoticed again. I really don't want to see that pretty face of yours frown. I want you to be happy. You are important to me, always remember that."

"I will, Naruto-kun," she said with her eyes tearing up with joy. "Thank you." She then did something she never thought she would do, she kissed him on the cheek with much passion. The boy immediately blushed but this time he failed to hide it to the Hyuga girl. She grinned evilly. "Naruto-kun, are you blushing?"

"No...no, no! Of course not!" he lied when his face was somewhat red from embarrassment. She giggled cutely making him feel more nervous. As he regained his composure, he looked at the giggling heiress. For the first time, she was absolutely beautiful in his eyes. He couldn't help but glimpse at her for another second before she looked at him right in the eyes with her lavender ones. She suddenly looked seductive, it was then when he started to panic inside. The Hyuga girl could tell Naruto liked that kiss just now, it was good sign that told her she could move one step forward. She made sure this next step would claim his heart. As Hinata got close again, he quickly stood up making her stop. "I think I should go check on Sakura-chan!" he said quickly and ran off. Hinata watched him took off and giggled innocently. However, that angelic giggle soon turned into a devilish grin.

_'Oh, Naruto-kun... you are so shy... I know you like me, you can't hide it.'_ With that thought clear, Hinata quickly jumped into a tall tree nearby to keep watch of her Naruto, she couldn't have him not in her sight.

**_(At that moment with Naruto)_**

_'What the heck was Hinata-chan doing just now?'_ he thought as a cold sweat cam down his forehead. He made sure he was a fair distance away from the girl. _'Was she trying to seduce me? No, that couldn't be true... Hinata-chan would never do such a thing. She was so pretty though... she made me want to kiss her... no, Hinata-chan is my friend, I simply won't do that...' _He quickly broke that thought and focussed on his original task, to check up on his sleeping teammate. Sakura was still resting peacefully with a smile on her face. The boy kneeled to lower himself to take a closer look at her, he was glad she was sleeping happily. 'She seem to be having a pleasant dream,' he thought with a wide grin. Something about Sakura fascinated him, he couldn't grasp what it was. He knew it existed but he just couldn't get hold of it. Since he didn't want to mess up his own mind at such an early age, he chose to ignore it. Without knowing, he was looking at her at a pretty close distance. At the same time, Sakura suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a strong hug. If that was just a hug it would've been fine but the fact was that his head was in contact with Sakura's breasts.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hands completely frozen to the core. She couldn't believe the scenario that was happening in front of her eyes. Sakura was hugging Naruto in a way the Hyuga girl always wanted, she was dumbfounded at the fact the pink hair genin just did it like that.

_'Sakura-san...'_ though Hinata with raging flames in her eyes. _'What are you doing to my Naruto-kun? He's mine!' _Meanwhile, the Death Knight had a lot on his hands. He was desperately trying to squirm out of her grab but to no avail whatsoever. However, if he called out her name, it wouldn't be appropriate at all.

_'This is definitely not the greatest way know a girl!' _he basically screamed to himself. The Death Knight gathered all the strength he could muster to get out of that mess he was in but sadly enough, luck wasn't on his side that day for Sakura suddenly woke up. She nearly screamed when she found herself hugging a guy to a very inappropriate part of her body. She wanted to yell at him for being a pervert but she realized it was her who started it, she couldn't blame anyone. However, it didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed about it.

"Naruto..." whispered Sakura blushing like a tomato who couldn't believe what she just did. She quickly released him and of course he didn't hesitate at all to escape that embrace. His face was quite red since he was blushing. For the first time in his life, he nearly suffered a case of nosebleed. "I'm so sorry..."

"Sakura-chan..." he panted trying to calm himself down from that horrific experience. "What in the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry... I don't know what to say..." she was breathing heavily herself. "Are you mad at me?" she asked no louder than a squeak.

"No, I'm not. I am just shocked... that really wasn't the way I expected to be introduced to breasts..." Sakura didn't know if she should laugh at that or kill him. By the expression on Naruto's face, he was shivering inside. Both sat in silence for a while before the Death Knight managed to speak again. "I was wondering... what were you dreaming about just now to make you act like that?"

"Nothing..." she replied.

"Is that so?" he questioned with a grin. She blushed quickly when she saw his face. "You were dreaming about Uchiha Sasuke, weren't you?" The emerald eyed genin shook her head slightly but Naruto wasn't persuaded. "Don't lie, Sakura-chan, I heard you mumble his name in your sleep. I know you like him." Sakura knew lying wouldn't get her anywhere. "What makes you like him so much? Don't mind me being so direct, I am just curious."

"It's okay... people have asked me that before. I might as well tell you."

"What makes you so sure I won't spread what you told me?" All Sakura did was a calm smile.

"You don't look like a person who would do that."

"You're right, Sakura-chan. Oh yeah, whatever you tell me would stay between us, okay?" She nodded.

""I want to tell you... well... since you get seem to get along with girls so well... and you are my teammate. If you can't trust your own teammates, who else could you trust?"

"You're right." He stated simply.

"I want to know you better, Naruto..." she then blushed. "Would you give me a chance?" 'What is she asking? She doesn't need permission for me to accept her.' He thought. The Death Knight nodded with a smile. "Okay... the reason I like Sasuke-kun is because he's strong, very handsome, collected and mysterious. That makes girls... I can't explain it but there is something so wild about him that I am attracted to."

"Did you tell him that you like him?" he asked suddenly.

"Well... no, I don't know how he would react if I did..."

"You haven't told him yet? Did you do anything to show at least you like him?"

"Of course. I asked him on dates, having lunch, breakfast, taking walks..."

"Wait," interrupted the Death Knight. "Date? Isn't that a bit too forward?" He couldn't stop a sweatdrop coming down from his head.

"It doesn't really matter, he rejected everything that I suggested."

"Have you considered Sasuke likes?" Sakura gave the silver hair boy a confused expression. "Okay, let me put it this way, I am sure he won't refuse that much if he was given a choice to do something he liked. I know he's one who likes to training so if you want him to like you, do things that he likes. You have to think of it this way, if you like him, you have to sacrifice something you like for him. At first it would be a one sided at first but eventually the other person would do things for you."

"But I am so weak compared to Sasuke-kun..." she admitted sadly.

"Well, it's the thought that counts. Make your presence worthy of his respect. This may sound a little silly and outdated but have you heard of this before? To love a person isn't to take over, to love them is to make them happy?" Sakura never realized how true that statement was, Hinata couldn't hear what he said but the impressed look on the pink hair girl's face told her enough. "But first thing's first, are you and Sasuke friends?"

"We are more of acquaintances than friends..."

"You two talked before?"

"Yeah but he always walks away all the time..." 'I wonder why...' thought the Death Knight sarcastically.

"You should tell him that you want to be his friend, Sakura-chan," said Naruto holding Sakura's hand with both of his. She immediately blushed a deep shade of red. "Now, I'll say this. Within 10 men, 9 of them are demented retards." The Haruno girl giggled. "If you don't tell them what you want or your intentions, they won't even know what's going on. Tell him you want to be his friend, not a fan girl that he dislikes so much."

"I never thought of it that way... but I still can't bear it if Sasuke likes a girl other than myself..."

"Don't think like that. If you truly like him, wouldn't you be happy for him if he found the girl who he loves? Wouldn't you wish him to have a successful relationship? C'mon Sakura-chan, there are too many hardships in life. If we could avoid it or ease it, I would. You should see things more in a positive way so you could live your life better."

"Naruto..." the girl was amazed at the level of his maturity. Of course, the Death Knight went through a very tough and different life from her, it was only natural for him to see things in such a different perspective. He was secretive and mysterious, it made Sakura had a desire to know more about him. "I thank you for sharing so much with me..." she then blushed knowing he was still holding her hand. "But why did you do it?"

"Because you are a great person to talk to, Sakura-chan," complimented Naruto sincerely. "You don't pressure people, you don't force your opinions towards others, you're very open. I suppose this was a good way to know you better since we are teammates and friends, we need to lookout for one another. Sakura-chan, you have no idea how much more fortunate you are compared to many people. I know there are things that you don't like, such as your forehead." He then burst into a quiet chuckle. Sakura's face was quite red from embarrassment.

"How do you know?" she asked nervously.

"If Ino called you forehead girl, there's gotta be something she is insulting." The girl blushed slightly. "But to me, I think your forehead is just fine."

"You're just saying that." She then pouted cutely.

"No, I'm not. You're a very pretty girl, I'll admit that. So don't be ashamed of who you are. Your pink hair, green eyes, they suit who you are perfectly." He then poked her forehead lightly. "Even though you may not win Sasuke's heart, I want you to know you are Haruno Sakura, my teammate and always will be my friend. I never had too many friends since I moved around a lot, I treasure those who are close and you should too. But most importantly, you should treasure yourself." The girl was speechless at that moment, his words were genuine and sincere, he cared for her and they barely knew each other. But somehow, she felt they knew one another for a long time. She felt easy to share things with him, somewhere in her heart told her that the boy would keep his word and he wouldn't do anything reckless to disappoint her. She knew he was trustworthy. At that instant, her heart fell for someone else.

"So... you never thought my forehead was..."

"No." he answered shaking his head.

"Did you ever thought I was too weak since Hinata-san defeated me in one shot?" This time, she was scared at what his reply was.

"You might not be strong physically," he said. "But it's not everyone's strength to be just strong, I'm sure your potential is locked elsewhere." She smiled happily to him which resulted a smile in return.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" The silver hair genin's eyes widened a little while Hinata's ears jerked a little.

"Yeah, I do." answered Naruto while Hinata gasped from afar. "Where is this getting to?" he asked but the green eyed girl was blushing nervously. All the Death Knight could do was wait.

"Do... do you like me?" Sakura blurted out her question as quickly as she could say it. Naruto just smiled warmly at her.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" The girl flushed deeply while Hinata could just faint. 'How could Naruto-kun fall for her? No, I won't give up... I know he likes me... it can't be true! No, I will make him realize that I love him, I can't lose him now...' 'Great,' said the Death Knight in his head. 'Why do girls always have to ask those questions that either resolves in a kiss or a punch in the face?' Suddenly the Haruno girl embraced the dark shinobi passionately, it was very unexpected. "Sakura-chan, is something wrong?"

"Nothing... it's just that no one ever said they liked me before..."

"Really? I'm sure they are just to shy to admit it."

"Now that we are closer friends..." the girl then played with her hands a little bit. "Do you think we could hang out sometime?" This was when the Hyuga heiress paid the most attention to during the entire conversation. Not believing anything was wrong, Naruto agreed making Inner Sakura jump up cheerfully while a dangerous aura was developing somewhere nearby. Once Naruto gave Sakura his answer, which was obviously sure, he suddenly felt a disturbance in the air. The lavender eyed genin was jealous, in fact she has been jealous of Sakura for a long time but she never cared before until now. Sakura was more prettier than her, smarter than her, and caught many people's attention by simply walking into a room. She was afraid the pink hair girl would win Naruto's heart, it was clear Sakura had more skills to do it, Hinata's chance has drastically lowered. The look on Sakura's green eyes clarified that she had admiration for Hinata's loved one. When it came to love, the Hyuga girl would do anything to achieve it.

_**(Meanwhile)**_

Noticing Hinata's presence nearby, Naruto decided to check up on her. Sakura agreed while her inner self was cursing the entire time. The Death Knight disappeared in a flash and appeared right in front of Hinata in a kneeling position. The Hyuga girl squeaked as she saw him so unexpectedly.

"Na... Naruto-kun..." was all Hinata could put together. The boy gave her a questioning look.

"What are you doing here, Hinata-chan?" asked the runeblade wielder politely.

"I... I was just resting here..." she replied meekly. Even though he wasn't convinced, he was inclined to agree. He observed his surroundings just to find that this was a shady area with a gentle breeze. However, he knew she had been listening to the entire conversation, instincts told him that. "Naruto-kun, may I ask you a question?"

"Ask ahead, Hinata-chan."

"What makes you like Sakura-san so much?" she asked sadly.

"I like her but you can't say that I like her to a fact that you would use the words so much."

"Really?" The lavender eyed girl asked excitedly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that sudden outburst. She then blushed madly at what she just did. "Naruto-kun... do you like me?" That question made his eyes open up with the most utter shock.

"Wha-what?"

"Do you like me?" she asked again with more force which made Naruto stutter.

"Well..."

"You don't like me, do you?" Tears were forming in her eyes as she slowly turned away from him. Seeing her about to cry, the Death Knight had to do something. He quickly held her gently by the shoulders making eye contact with her.

"That's not it, Hinata-chan," he explained. "What do you expect me to say? I like you of course, you are my best friend, do you have a reason for me not to like you? I didn't respond since I didn't know what kind of like you were referring to, that's all."

"My like is just friends like, Naruto-kun..." Hinata tried to give him her best smile but he knew her too well. Her smile was forced and she was lying. He knew exactly what her like meant, he was beginning to know what this was getting at. However, he chose to ignore it for the time being. (AN: Not a wise decision.) Moments later, Naruto and Hinata made it back to the area where Sakura was and decided to wait as a team. When Hinata and Sakura's eyes met one another's, a frightening aura began to develop between the two. They gave each other a fake smile at first but soon they dropped their greeting faces and turned it into a stare. Tension was intensifying each passing second, anyone who had basic intelligence would know it would be wise not to step in. One common thought were in both girl's minds at the same moment. _'I won't lose Naruto to you!'_

**AN: Another long chapter done. It wasn't that long but the questions and answers took a lot of my time. I hope this was a satisfying chappie to read, I just hope my rivalry description was detailed enough and not to mention attractive enough. I may have made mistakes. If I find them, I will correct it. REVIEWS are ALWAYS welcome, if it weren't for them, I'm not sure if I would still be writing this fic. I am glad you all liked my previous work, it sure makes me feel my hard work paid off. I apologize for the slow story development but some people were really hoping for Sakura/Hinata rivalry, I have to hand it to them sometime soon. To all loyal readers, you know who you are and I thank you all so much once again. The next chapter? It'll be something good of course! Later! **


	6. The Real Deal to be a Genin

**_DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT_**  
  
_Chapter 6: The Real Deal to be a Genin_  
  
Disclaimer: For the LAST time, I don't own Naruto or anything that belongs in Warcraft 3! This thing is really starting to bug me A LOT! (Fires Desert Eagle at a HalfLife scientist CONTINUOUSLY in the crotch and head just to ease the rage.) Now with this thing out of the way, please enjoy this chapter for me...  
  
"...": Speech  
  
_'...'_: Thoughts  
  
The Scenario Change description will be listed in the bolded italic brackets, thank you.  
**  
AN: THANK YOU all so much for your supportive reviews and comments. You had no idea that I was smiling the entire time when I was reading through those. I'm so happy to have 2 of my favorite authors to check it out. You guys know who you are. I hope I am a good enough writer for this. I'm sure those who read my previous chapter are really excited to finally see some love-triangle action, trust me there will be a lot more so expect some good fiction in the near future. If I happen to suck at this triangle thing or whatnot, please understand that I have no idea how to write a good one. If you want good love triangles, read_ Live Long Fight _or _Shikamaru's Woes and Naruto's Love Triangle_. I will highly recommend those for suspense. Now for another short Questions and Answer period.**

_**Yes, here it is again! A time where all questions from the last chapter and before will be answered one way or another. **_

**_1Q: Is Naruto evil?_**  
  
1A: The answer is no, if he was evil... well, you could say he wouldn't care about anybody in his life if he was, he would simply kill them for mere entertainment. There is no way I am that good to make an evil and brainwashed person to be able to fall in love. I am simply not that skilled.  
  
**_2Q: Who will win between the rivalry?_**  
  
2A: Just keep reading and find out for yourselves. I will spoil it if I told you right here and now.  
  
**_3Q: Is Kyubi too out of character?_**  
  
3A: My fiction, my rules. Don't like to sound like a complete jerk who thinks I'm right all the time and all but trust me, fiction isn't suppose to be so... rational. Making some of things a little bit more differently may be a good thing, but I will tell you, most of the characters are nearly the same. So, don't expect any more way too much out of character characters.  
  
**_4Q: Is Naruto a player?_**  
  
4A: I don't even know why anyone would think that. Believe me, Naruto isn't one who would like to flirt with girls, he talks to them, it doesn't mean he hits on them. You can say his level of maturity captures the girls attention. He doesn't do it willingly, it's just who he is. If you want, you can say he is a much more opened version of Sasuke.  
  
**_5Q: Will more girls come in Naruto's life?_**  
  
5A: Continue reading to find out. There's not too much that I could say. I got a strong feeling some wills say more the merrier...  
  
**_6Q: Is Naruto dense?_**  
  
6A: He clearly is not! Trust me, he knows what's going on but he chooses to remain neutral. He doesn't want to hurt either girls since they are his friends and he treasures them both. Eventually, you do know the rivalry would end (Not anytime soon though) and his heart would fall for one of them. As the story goes on, it would become clear to you guys who he would choose. So don't EVER think Naruto is dense.  
  
**_MORE AN: Thank you all once again, your time and patience that you put in your reviews are well respected, you guys earned it! I might get a little slow on my writing since I still have calculus to deal with. That doesn't mean I won't try to write when I can, so don't get too disappointed. Now as promised, here is the next part of the saga._**

_**(The same day at the same designated waiting area)**_

Another hour has past by, the Death Knight was bored out of his mind. If it wasn't for his novel Life and Death Paradise written by Jiraiya, he would've killed himself long ago then to experience this boredom. Unlike all those perverted books Jiraiya has wrote all these years, this was the first book that the content had nothing to do with women exposing themselves in any possible reason. However, this book was still rated R. It was a very special novel to Naruto and his younger sister for it was written by their inspiration. (AN: Just like how this story is inspired by something.) The contents were all something to sue with the human psychology, both physical and mental torment. The silver hair genin loved this book, he already read it many times but it caught his attention every time. It reflected him a lot, it explained how people should seek out their lives no matter how down and hopeless it seemed. Forfeiting in the most early stages of the game would hurt your loved ones who always had faith in you. Naruto found that this book Jiraiya wrote for him showed that he cared for him a lot, even though they may bicker at times, he saw him like a father. 

Meanwhile, the two girls were sitting at different sides watching him admiringly. As much as Naruto wanted to ignore them, he found the tension and pressure was growing and budding to new heights. It felt strange, he never had two girls liking him before and not to mention both of them were pretty. When he was reading silently, the girls would read with him and taking short glimpses of him. It truly was uncomfortable for Naruto but he didn't have the heart to tell them directly. Even so, he needed to get out of that awkward situation and not to mention fast!

The Death Knight made a set of hand seals that Hinata was familiar to, she grabbed his wrist quickly and gave him a charming look. He blushed immediately when he saw her needing eyes, her lavender eyes showed both desire and hunger. No words were needed there, he knew she wanted him to stay. He reluctantly gave in to her demands and decided to meditate with his blindfold so he won't be able to see any of the girls. However, Sakura just took it away from him saying his eyes were pretty, there was no need to hide it. At that time, the Death Knight was freaked out beyond repair on the inside while his outside appearance remained calm and still. In truth, he didn't know how much longer he could last, if he couldn't Blink out of there, he didn't know what he could do. He then decided to take a short walk.  
  
"Naruto-kun, where are you going?" asked Hinata as the male genin stood up.  
  
"I'm just stretching, Hinata-chan," he replied obviously lying. The girl obviously doubted his words.  
  
"You like it if I gave you a massage?" she offered timidly. "You did give me one before..." Sakura then wished she offered something first, the last thing she needed was for Hinata to have the first strike. Hinata then started to play with her index fingers nervously with a blushing face, she wanted to make the best impression.  
  
"There is no need for that," he answered giving a no response. "I am feeling fine."  
  
"C'mon, I insist..." said the Hyuga girl ever so seductively while she took his hand and pulled him back down to a sitting position. His eyes showed much surprise, when did Hinata become this... bold? She then went behind him and prepared herself.  
  
"Hi-Hinata-chan..." said Naruto nervously. "Really, there is no need for you to do this for me..."  
  
"But I want to, Naruto-kun." The Death Knight stiffened at her heavenly tone. He was losing it, he didn't know what to do. He had a beautiful girl, in fact two beautiful girls actually who liked him. He tried his best not to get seduced by either of them but that task seemed to be more difficult as each second went by. Once Hinata began her soothing treatment, Naruto's usual cold, hard shell could just melt.

'_Holy, this feels good...'_ thought Naruto trying not to enjoy this too much but it was too good to deny. Sakura was enraged that her new rival was touching him, she was the person that was supposed to do that. Without knowing, the Hyuga heiress slowly removed the jacket that the Death Knight was wearing. (AN: NO, she is not trying to have sex with him for those who had the thought that I would write that! If you were massaging someone, you would ask them to take off any thick clothing. In Hinata's case, she did it naturally.) Naruto hardened a bit but chose to put it aside when Hinata's 'operation' just got that much more relaxing.  
  
"Don't undress Naruto, Hinata-san!" shouted Sakura which made Hinata flush with embarrassment. Deep down, the pink hair girl was secretly agreeing with the idea.  
  
"It's fine..." said Naruto. "Thanks, Hinata-chan."  
  
"You're welcome..." said Hinata with a shade of pink while continuing her treatment. Suddenly, the heiress blindly pushed herself gently onto his back making the dark shinobi felt something soft. He blushed a little knowing what it was. His heartbeat increased as he turned his head slightly seeing the girl's head only inches away from his. Of course, Sakura didn't like that sight right now.  
  
"Hinata-chan..."  
  
"Naruto-kun... I hope I could make you happy everyday..." she said rather blindly. Her eyes were filled with nothing but care, concern, sincerity and possibly even... love.

'_Why would Hinata-chan show love in her eyes?'_ Naruto asked himself in his mind. _'Does she love me? No, I'm fooling myself. I know she likes me but she wouldn't love me, not a half demon especially...'_ The last thought was quite bitter. _'I must be imagining things. Love? When was it ever something within my reach, it never was, it never will...' _He looked at the creamy white face again, her expression didn't change one bit, it was still filled with genuine emotions. He smiled at her and she quickly blushed and looked away. As Naruto began to relax a bit more, Hinata's face got even closer to his like a magnet. Somehow, he had an urge as well. Not realizing what they were doing, their faces were a mere distance apart. As the Death Knight pulled himself together and the split second before their lips met each other's, he could tell this wasn't right. He then reluctantly pulled his head back.  
  
"Hinata-chan... I think that would do it..." he said rather quickly as he removed himself from her. A very disappointed look crept on the heiress' face. The dark warrior then gave her a genuine smile and ruffled her hair slightly. When Hinata returned a smile of her own, he then felt safe knowing she was okay. Just to make sure, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead making Hinata blush. Given this big opening, Sakura quickly grabbed his arm and tugged him away from the Hyuga girl. "Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing..." answered Sakura with a blush. "I just want... you want to have a walk with me?"  
  
"A walk?" he asked. She nodded with a cheerful blushing face. "Shouldn't we continue to wait though? I mean, Kakashi would be here any second now." He chose his words wisely, he knew he had to say something that wasn't refusing or accepting the offer.  
  
"I guess you're right..." she said rather down. "Naruto... I want to thank you..."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For making realize what kind of good person you are..." replied Sakura timidly. "No one has said something so nice to me before, I never had a friend like you."  
  
"I'm glad to be the first." He said with a chuckle.  
  
"May I return the favor?"  
  
"No need, Sakura-chan," he said sincerely with a smile. "It was nothing, I was happy to help you." However, when his cerulean eyes met her emerald ones, he realized what she meant by favor. (AN: No, it's not sex!) He was in a panic once again. "Sa-Sakura-chan... there is really no need for you to do anything! You don't have to trouble yourself with me!" Currently, he was slowly backing away but the girl's hand caught his refusing him to go.  
  
"Please, I insist." Sakura said ever so seductively. The Death Knight blinked a few times at her words, they were the same as Hinata's, not to mention the soft sound. She slowly placed her hand on his cheek and pulled his face gently towards hers. The Hyuga girl immediately dashed to the two trying to make it in time before Sakura made the final move, however she was too late. Sakura's lips already made contact with Naruto's cheek and she was kissing him with passion. She broke the kiss rather quickly but the Death Knight was shocked at the amount of feeling put into it. He was stunned while Sakura flushed deeply.

'_Wow...' _was all he could think about as he touched his kissed cheek with his hand. Of course, Hinata definitely didn't like what she saw, her jealousy towards her female teammate increased. It was clear Sakura was feeling the same way.  
  
"Ohayo!" called a familiar voice from the trees suddenly. Naruto looked up with a smirk on his face while the two girls were too focused with another to even notice who the person was.  
  
"Ohayo yourself," said Naruto not pleased to see his instructor at all. "It's about time you showed up, Kakashi."  
  
"What time is it?" he asked resulting a glare from the Death Knight.  
  
"YOU"RE LATE!" shouted the girls reverting their attention to the jounin.  
  
"Yeah, a black cat crossed my path this morning so..."  
  
"LIAR!" the two yelled in unison. Kakashi simply coughed and muttered a whatever under his breath and decided to move on with the day.  
  
"Now," said Kakashi taking out a clock from his knapsack and placed it on a small stump. "I will now explain the task you three must do." Then he took out two bells in his jounin vest.

'_The bell exercise?' _thought Naruto with a smirk.

"Your task is to take these two bells away from me. Whoever doesn't manage to have a bell in their possession when the time is up will be tied to that log over there and won't have lunch. The others would fortunately." The jounin then pointed to a few logs nearby as the three nodded in understanding. "Now, if none of you get the bells, all three of you would be tied up and guess what would happen to your lunches? I will eat them right in front of you."  
  
"Big deal." said Naruto.  
  
"Big deal is right, Naruto-kun," Kakashi continued with a visible evil grin. "The person who doesn't get a bell will fail." The last sentence struck the girls' minds.  
  
_'You fail if you don't get a bell?' _thought Sakura. _'Then, I'll have to make sure I actually get one...'  
_  
_'There's a chance that all three of us would fail...' _said Hinata mentally worried. _'This really makes you lose your confidence.'  
_  
"Now, you all have 80 minutes to take the bells away from me, I'll allow you to use any type of methods. And by the way, I advise you come at me with the intention to kill me."  
  
"Won't you get hurt, sensei?" asked Sakura worriedly.  
  
"No, I'll be fine." Replied the jounin reassuringly.  
  
"You're in over your head, Kakashi." Said Naruto with a evil grin.  
  
"Call me Kakashi-sensei." stated the jounin narrowing his visible eye to his only male student.  
  
"You haven't been doing such a good job of an instructor for me to call you that, Kakashi." The jounin's eye winced even more as the Death Knight took a glance to the girls. They were already gone. Naruto then grinned and began to walk away. "Kakashi," he called with his back turned. "I will play this little game with you for a little while longer. Don't think that I don't know what you're up to." With that, he made his hand seal of the technique Blink and teleported away.

'_Damn,'_ cursed the masked man to himself. 'I should've copied that move with my Sharingan, it could've been very useful.' However, little did he know that move can't be simply copied, it had to be taught by the original user. Knowing Itachi's Sharingan, Naruto avoided to learn jutsus that could be copied. He dedicated himself to learn most of Kyubi's Hidden techniques which surprised Itachi and Kisame every time they sparred. The only move Naruto possessed that could be copied would be the Kage-Bunshin. (AN: I obviously didn't remove this move for him, it was his trademark after all. Just like his whisker marks.)

_**(Moments later)**_

The three genins have all concealed themselves within this time. Sakura was looking for a good opening to strike the jounin, Hinata was waiting patiently for a decent sneak attack while Naruto was observing Kakashi carefully to study his movements and behaviour. The way a person reacts and moves told the Death Knight a lot about the person, that was what he usually did when it came to this kind of games. As he deactivated his Unholy Sight, he quickly leaped silently away from his hiding spot and prepared himself to face Kakashi.  
  
"I wasn't expecting only just you to show up, Naruto." Said Kakashi as the Death Knight appeared 10 feet away from him in a warp. Hinata and Sakura were shocked at what Naruto just did, not that he appeared out of nowhere but his choice in revealing himself.  
  
"Expect it, Kakashi," spat Naruto as a matter of factly. "It's time for this little game to reach the next level don't you think?"  
  
"Bold words, but you'll know that I won't be easy prey."  
  
"I have no intention of taking those damn bells from you, little human. As for becoming a genin... I could seriously care less. My only objective right now is to take you down."  
  
"You should start talking after you beat me."  
  
"Gladly." Said the Death Knight as he vanished without warning. The jounin's eyes opened up a notch for he wasn't able to sense it coming. The next split second, the dark shinobi was already next to the masked ninja giving an upward kick. Being a skillful jounin, Kakashi shifted his body as quick as he could to dodge that incoming kick. But even if he did, he barely evaded it. Knowing his kick missed, Naruto turned his body around to perform a 360 degree kick that struck Kakashi heavily in the arm. However, the jounin blocked it but still took full impact. It was then Naruto unsheathed his runeblade as Kakashi took out a kunai, both weapons then struck each other causing a powerful energy clash. The masked jounin then lowered himself in a nick of time and tripped his opponent. Naruto cursed himself for being careless as he fell on his back to the ground. Kakashi quickly dived down still with a weapon in his hand and aimed for a critical spot. 

The Death Knight smirked as he himself had a few tricks up his sleeve. As the incoming attack was inches away from Naruto's body, Naruto disappeared again. Kakashi's eye widened when he no longer sensed his adversary's presence. Out of the blue, the Death Knight appeared two feet away from Kakashi with a smirk on his face. First he kicked the kunai away from his hand as if it was nothing, Kakashi's dumbfounded look made the task that much easier. Then Naruto performed a heavy snap kick to the jounin's chin sending him gliding a several meters away.  
  
"What in the hell was that?" asked Kakashi rubbing his chin to ease the pain. Naruto simply smirked.  
  
"It's called Phase Shift," answered Naruto as he prepared himself in his preferred swordsman stance. (AN: Go to the jutsu list to check out the description of this move.) Not giving his opponent any more recovery time, the Death Knight did a high a charge with his runeblade in an attacking position. Seeing Naruto coming quickly, Kakashi made a set of hand seals ready to counter.  
  
"Fire Element, Flame Blast no jutsu!" shouted the jounin as a powerful cone of fire was released from his hands. (AN: I have no idea what kind of moves Kakashi has, all I know he has the Sharingan, Chidori, Zabuza's water techiniques, Kisame's water techiniques, Kage Bunshin... that's really all. Please bare with me!) Naruto merely placed his weapon in a defensive position and took the attack completely. Naruto wasn't stupid, what he was actually doing to split the flames in two to prevent any sort of damage. As the flames cleared, Kakashi's eye twitched when he saw the dark shinobi completely unharmed, not even a sign of a small burn.  
  
"Is that all, Kakashi?" asked the Death Knight looking up with a sinister grin.  
  
"There will be a lot more where that came from, don't worry..." replied the jounin with a visible grin. Kakashi knew he had to go on to the offensive, staying defensive would only work to his disadvantage. Generating chakra into his feet in very short amount of time, Kakashi excelled himself in a speed that surprised Naruto. The Death Knight's eye widened as he sensed the jounin passed right by. He prepared himself for the worst as he dodged a punch aimed for his back. A kick soon followed however the dark shinobi once again avoided the attack. With a slight twist of his body, Kakashi immediately delivered a kick successfully at his opponent's stomach causing Naruto not only to flinch in a lot of pain but also slow down his movement for a short period of time. This period of time was all Kakashi needed to get into a good distance to prepare for his next attack.

Using the Kage Bunshin, 10 Kakashis appeared and performed the Fireball Rain altogether. As a legion of fireballs were headed straight for Naruto, the Death Knight's eyes flashed angrily for he started to avoid them in high agility. This wasn't a good sign to Kakashi obviously, so he increased the number of fireballs. Knowing more was put into this attack, the silver hair genin had no choice but to destroy as many as he could when it came. With his runeblade, it wasn't that hard of a task. However, due to the amount that was fired, it wasn't long before Naruto was starting to get hit by some of them. As one hit, more and more began to inflict more damage.

'_I can't afford to take anymore unnecessary hits!' _said the Death Knight in his mind making precautions. _'I'll get him...'_  
  
Unexpected, Naruto gathered chakra into his feet and dashed towards Kakashi with his runeblade in an attack position. As he past his opponent, all the Kakashi clones were gone in a smoke. 'He's incredibly fast!' thought Kakashi turning around just to see the dark shinobi projected himself right at him delivering a high impact skull bash right into Kakashi's ribs. The jounin couldn't imagine how much damage was inflicted in that single attack. Before he fell backwards, the Death Knight gave an upward kick right at his face sending the masked man into the air. To cause more pain, Naruto charged up his blade and quickly released a Death Coil at his now defenseless opponent. Hinata gasped at what her friend did.

'_Naruto-kun... you said that was a healing technique...'_ she thought as she held her hands to her chest. Then she nearly shrieked as her instructor looked completely lifeless after the Death Coil consumed him. _'This is definitely not a healing technique,' _thought Hinata determinedly. _'What are you hiding from me, Naruto-kun?' _As the jounin's body fell helplessly to the ground, Naruto frowned in anger. Then the body disappeared in cloud of smoke, Naruto knew it was a replication.

'_So, he ran away...' _thought the silver hair genin calmly as he glanced over his surroundings. _'I better regroup with the others, I can't pass this test if they don't participate.'_ With that thought in mind, Naruto leaped into the forest hoping to find Hinata and Sakura.

_**(At the mean time in a hiding vicinity)**_

Meanwhile, Kakashi was currently hiding in the trees holding both his face and ribs. He was in a lot of pain and panting a little as well. _'Damn it...'_ he thought trying to calm down. _'That boy managed to lay enough direct attacks on me, who would've thought he would be that strong? If I continued to fight him... I know I would've lost for certain... I need to come up with a plan, I can't hide here forever. If I know him well enough, I'm sure he knows that I'm here. His eyes are just like the 4th's... _' As Kakashi was thinking of a plan, the Death Knight was on his way to gather reinforcements. (AN: Not like he really needed them)  
  
"Hinata-chan," whispered Naruto making the Hyuga girl turn around. When she saw him, she immediately hugged him passionately. Naruto wasn't really expecting that. "Hi-Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing... I was just worried." She answered timidly but still embracing him.  
  
"About me fighting Kakashi?" he asked ruffling her hair a little. She nodded slightly and enjoyed his warmth. Despite how much he liked her touch, Naruto reluctantly broke the embrace. "Where's Sakura-chan?" he asked suddenly. The lavender eyed girl's happy face dropped as he mentioned Sakura's name.  
  
"I don't know... we went different ways after we got our instructions." Naruto sighed in exhaustion and decided to look for Sakura. He told Hinata to wait for him but she clearly refused. The last thing the heiress needed was for him to be alone with her rival. With the Byakugan user here, it wasn't too difficult to locate Sakura. As Naruto went up to the pink haired girl, she immediately attached herself onto him making Hinata's anger level increase dramatically.  
  
"Don't hug Naruto-kun like that!" shouted Hinata unable to control her anger.  
  
"He's not yours, Hinata-san." Retorted Sakura with her tongue sticking out. The Hyuga girl groaned in annoyance and pouted. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at his best friend's cuteness, it was adorable. However, he needed Sakura to remove herself first.  
  
"Sakura-chan, I need you to let go..." stated Naruto. "We need to discuss a plan now."  
  
"You could discuss it with me, you don't need to..." The pink hair genin then slowly removed her arms away from him when she saw he was serious. She knew this must be important.  
  
"Okay, my plan is simple," explained Naruto while the girls paid close attention. "We need to fight as a team, it's that easy."  
  
"What?" the two female genins said in unison.  
  
"Why do we need to work together?" asked Hinata not understanding this at all.  
  
"You were kicking his butt just fine!" added Sakura.  
  
"Trust me," said Naruto with a grin. "If I took the bells with the method I was using, we all would fail. I just wanted to piss that pervert off" The girls gave him a blank expression, Naruto just sighed. "Whether you understand or not, just follow my lead and attack with me. Never attempt to take him alone, always go in pairs, okay?" The girls then nodded in agreement and commenced the plan as a team. The trio then came out of the forests knowing Kakashi was nearby. The jounin could obviously see them since he was on higher ground, he didn't expect Naruto to gather the other two though. Hinata activated her Byakugan and scouted the area very efficiently, it wasn't long before she found the jounin's hiding spot. Knowing he has been seen, Kakashi quickly attempted to escape. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't expecting Naruto to bring the other two to his aid, now his plan has been completely messed up. In truth, he didn't have enough time to even think of a plan, all he could do now was to go with the flow and hoping he would get out of it in one piece. The jounin then immediately made a break for it.  
  
"You won't get away," said Naruto as he generated energy within his blade. "Unholy Aura!" Then a black fog composed with energy began to surround the Death Knight, it looked somewhat horrific to the girls. However, they felt the aura very distinctively, it felt like it affected them too. The feeling was strange but also beneficial.  
  
"How come I feel different, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata with an uneasy feeling.  
  
"You are in range of my Unholy Aura," explained Naruto. "As long as you are in radius of 10 meters around me, your healing and movement will increase. If we attack together will our agility increased, we would stand a better chance. Now, stick close to me and let's hunt down that masked freak." (AN: To check out this move, please read the jutsu list for further details.) The girls nodded promptly and followed Naruto's lead into the forest. Kakashi knew he was slowing down as he felt pain in his ribs.

_'Damn, that skull bash actually broke a few of my ribs... it's good that it's not critical... but it's really dulling my senses...'_ thought the gray hair jounin holding his chest area a little. Not knowing his students had a powerful aura aiding them, he was shocked to see them within his vision. His eye immediately twitched as he saw his only male student already charging at him with his blade ready to strike. _'They're fast... too fast...'_ thought the masked jounin in a slight panic. He prepared his own taijutsu stance ready to take on anything ahead. Once Naruto was a few feet in front of his instructor holding his weapon in preparing to attack, he smirked and vanished. Kakashi quickly looked around trying to detect the boy however he found that he suddenly had his hands full dealing with the Hyuga Heiress and the pink hair girl.

_'He was acting as a decoy?'_ said Kakashi mentally as he blocked one of Sakura's kicks and Hinata's gentle fist. _'I am at a total disadvantage here...'  
_  
"Mana Burn!" shouted Hinata as she fired her most lethal attack on her instructor. As Kakashi tried to dodge it, Sakura managed to punch the jounin to get him back into the beam's range knowing what kind of deadly effects the beam could really do. The jounin cried in pain as he felt a major chunk of his chakra has been tore away very forcefully. Seeing how much pain Kakashi was in, the girl didn't hesitate at all to continue with their pursuit. Unfortunately for Hinata, her Mana Burn missed her opponent's chakra organ since he was able to dodge it. If it wasn't for Sakura, the beam wouldn't have hit at all. The Hyuga girl secretly thanked her rival, of course she would never admit it to her. Even though the Mana Burn did hit, it wasn't enough to weaken Kakashi completely. He still had a lot of fighting spirit left within him. Naruto made sure that wouldn't happen for he soon joined in the battle.  
  
At this time, the masked jounin knew he was in trouble. He found himself even more cornered when he saw all three of their movements have increased by a notch. With his weakened self, he found it extremely difficult to keep up so he decided to put the two girls out of the picture first. As Hinata's palm came, Kakashi grabbed it and swung the Hyuga heiress right to Sakura causing both to collide to each other. Even though they weren't unconscious, they were knocked a fair distance away. This gave the jounin enough time to deal with Naruto.  
  
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" shouted the instructor as 6 more clones of himself came out. He was surprised at the few amount that was created but it didn't matter, 6 was good enough. Sensing not enough chakra within himself, all the Kakashis took out their kunai and charged trying to make a final attempt to win this battle. Naruto on the other hand gathered a considerable amount of chakra into his blade also ready to intercept with a collision. It was 6 on 1. As the two went past each other with much killing intent, all Sakura and Hinata could do was watch in awe. Both of them were eager to know who was left standing. The jounin's clones disappeared while Naruto deactivated his aura, both of them were still up on their feet. Hinata squeaked when she saw Naruto had 6 kunais stabbed into his arms and one on his shoulder. Blood was dripping down from his forehead to his face while Kakashi seemed to be fine and unharmed.  
  
"Who do you think won, Sakura-san?" asked Hinata worriedly dropping the rivalry act.  
  
"I don't know, Hinata-san... I really don't know..." replied Sakura choking a bit with her words. It all happened so fast that none of them knew what actually happened. At that second, the Death Knight turned around with a wide smirk on his face to look at Kakashi who didn't move a muscle. As Hinata took a closer observation, he could see the masked jounin's face was deathly pale. Both girls shrieked.  
  
"How do you like my Death Pact, Kakashi-kun?" asked Naruto in a taunting tone. "It was life draining wasn't it?" He then painfully pulled out the 6 kunais out of his body, it was covered with blood. "I know you can hear me, you just don't have the strength to even talk. It doesn't matter, I understand. My attack gives me health by 300 of the damage that I dealt to the target. By the way that you collided with me, you should know you gave me a perfect opportunity to give a 90-degree slash. You were foolish to come at me using a close range method, little human. I would say more but I'm not going to bother talking to lifeless statue." The Death Knight then walked to the jounin and gave a gentle tap. With no sense of retaliation, Kakashi fell face first to the ground.  
  
"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata running to him followed by Sakura.  
  
"What is it?" he asked rather emotionlessly.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Sakura checking his wounds. "You're bleeding..."  
  
"I'll be fine, Sakura-chan..." he said with a smile. "It's just a flesh wound..." 'Yeah, painful flesh wounds...' he added sarcastically in his head.  
  
"Naruto-kun..." murmured Hinata holding his hand. "What should we do with Kakashi-sensei? He seems pretty out of it..." 'Dead if you want my full opinion...' thought Hinata.  
  
"Let's nurse him back to health first." The two girls agreed while Naruto took the lifeless Kakashi on his shoulders and put him in a good place to rest.  
  
**_(Several long hours later)_**  
  
"You're awake, sensei," said Hinata with a cute smile on her face. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Huh?" was all Kakashi could muster. "Where am I?"  
  
"You are still in the memorial grounds, Kakashi-sensei." Answered Sakura who was on his other side.  
  
"I was thinking you wouldn't wake up, Kakashi." Said Naruto crossing his arms while standing.  
  
"Of course I would wake up... by the way I passed out, I'll assume you took the bells away from me?" questioned the jounin with a visible grin.  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't we." Replied Sakura happily.  
  
"Which one of you doesn't have the bell?" he then looked at the girls only. However, to his surprise both girls were holding the bells and ringed it in front of him with a smile.  
  
"I don't have one," stated Naruto in a neutral tone.  
  
"Why did you give the them the bells, Naruto?" asked the jounin narroeing his visible eye. "You do know what it means right? Tell me, you defeated me with the help of your friends which seriously impressed me. But in the end, you know I still make the rules. I could fail you, you know that."  
  
"Yeah I do."  
  
"So why did you sacrifice your only chance of passing?"  
  
"Because I don't want Hinata-chan or Sakura-chan to fail." Answered Naruto truthfully.  
  
"So you knew the meaning of this test right from the start didn't you?" questioned Kakashi.  
  
"It's all about teamwork."  
  
"Teamwork?" asked the girls in unison completely confused.  
  
"If teamwork was the case, why did Naruto acted alone at first?" asked the pink hair genin.  
  
"He wanted to piss me off." Replied Kakashi that made Naruto laugh out loud.  
  
"How was the test suppose to be done then?"  
  
"You three should've came at me together. But who knew Naruto was that good to get me this badly. I shouldn't have held back when I still had the chance." Naruto smirked a little but the jounin continued. "Even if Naruto wasn't the strong genin he is, a genin team should be able to take something from someone who is a jounin if they put team effort into it."  
  
"But how is it teamwork if there are only two bells?" asked Hinata finally catching on. "Even if we worked together, one of us would still be left out."  
  
"Not to mention more bickering." Added Sakura in a clear tone.  
  
"Of course," explained Kakashi. "This test was designed to fight amongst yourselves. But why do you think we work in 3 man teams? It's all about teamwork. In the previous exercise, the main goal of it was for me to see how each of you co-ordinate with another. About the two bells, that was for me to see who's willing to sacrifice something important and interests for the sake of the team and work together."  
  
"What do you mean, sensei?" asked Hinata timidly. Naruto just sighed to himself.  
  
"Hinata, Sakura, think about it carefully," said Kakashi kindly. "A normal genin in any circumstances doesn't have the ability to fight one on one with a jounin. If you went for me alone, you should know your chance of getting the bell is extremely slim. However, in this case there was a cost behind it if you didn't achieve your goal. So what would you do? Any smart person with common sense would know that you have to team up with your teammates to help you. At the same time, you know that the choice of teaming up may also result in not be able to pass since there are only two bells for three people. If you don't work as a group, you definitely won't pass. But if you do work together, there is a chance that you might not pass either. It's a tough decision. That's where the selfish people come in, they don't care about anyone other than themselves. In the end, they would mess up for the entire team."  
  
"I understand now..."  
  
"I'm not done," said Kakashi. "It's important for a certain individual to be powerful but what is even more valued is teamwork. Missions are completed with teams all the time. Selfish actions that destroy the group spirit bring danger to your teammates and that could get them killed because of your recklessness. The cost of teamwork failure can resolve to a lot of tragic things. For example..." Suddenly, the jounin appeared right behind Naruto and held him into a dead hold with a kunai aimed at his throat. "Hinata!" shouted Kakashi with force. "Kill Sakura or Naruto dies!" The Death Knight didn't even react but the girls on the other hand were freaked out.  
  
"But... but..." Hinata couldn't even speak properly. Sakura was just as scared.  
  
"Well, that's what could happen." Said Kakashi spinning his kunai and slid it back into his pouch.  
  
"That scared me..." said Sakura relieved while holding her chest.  
  
"Not only did you mess up the teamwork, you allow the enemy to grab hold of the hostage. When this happens, you might be forced to make impossible decisions before you die." He then released Naruto out of his hold. "I will give you all the last bit of advice. A ninja must always read what's underneath the underneath. In this world, nothing is always what it seems. Always look further beyond the requirement and your chance of success would be higher. A ninja must always follow the rules, those who don't follow the rules are trash. But to me, those who don't care about their friends are even worse than trash." Naruto grinned at his words, Kakashi really wasn't a jounin for nothing. Hinata's eyes were sparkling with most delight while Sakura was smiling with glee. 'HELL YEAH!' shouted Inner Sakura. 'I knew we could do it!' "The second test is officially over, missions will begin tomorrow." Kakashi finalized his words with a smile.  
  
"This guy is quite cool... somewhat..." whispered the Death Knight to himself as he began to walk away from the memorial grounds. Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrapped around his neck giving him a soft passionate embrace. "Sakura-chan, hello..." he began stuttering.  
  
"I'm so glad that we are officially genins!" exclaimed the pink hair girl happily.  
  
"I'm glad too..." He then stopped talking when he felt Sakura pressed herself a little against him. He was blushing slightly and Hinata noticed it. The silver hair genin turned his head and saw Sakura's green eyes, they were filled with joy and satisfaction. He knew she was loving this moment right now, he didn't had the heart to make her let go.  
  
"You want to have to lunch with me?" asked the emerald eye girl timidly.  
  
"Uh... I don't see why..." Before Naruto could finish, Hinata quickly got hold of his right arm and held it with passion. A slight shade of fuchsia appeared on the Death Knight's face as he felt the Hyuga girl's touch.  
  
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata cooed soothingly. "You want to go with me instead." Now, it would be a good time for our hero to panic.  
  
"I... I don't think..."  
  
"Yes, you can!" declared the Hyuga heiress giving him a seductive look.  
  
"Hinata-san, let go of him!" demanded Sakura angrily. "I got to him first!" She broke the embrace and took his other available arm. 'What kind of mess did I get myself into?' he cursed mentally.  
  
"You didn't had the initiative to take his hand, you hugged him."  
  
"You didn't ask him first!"  
  
"I did take the initiative first to hold his hand, pink hair girl!" snapped Hinata angrily.  
  
"How dare you, no pupil eyes!" Sakura returned her words with more force.  
  
"Big forehead!" For the first time, Ino's words were very useful. The two girls gritted their teeth sending each other death glares as each second went by. Naruto felt the dangerous aura had reached another new level, Kakashi's so called teamwork was already falling apart. How long have they been genins for? 3 minutes for crying out loud! He needed to get outta here, he needed to go fast.  
  
"Sorry, girls..." he said breaking their attention from each other. "I kind of forgot that I promised to have lunch with Jiraiya-sensei..." he lied with skill. "Jiraiya said he wanted to congratulate me for being able to pass the genin exam yesterday."  
  
"Could I come?" asked a hopeful Hinata with a blush.  
  
"No can do, Jiraiya is only expecting me. He doesn't like things go unplanned." _'If you come Hinata, I am sure Jiraiya would start looking at your body...' _though the dark shinobi with a sigh. "Sorry, I'll have lunch or dinner with you guys next time, okay?" Both girls looked disappointed but cheered up when the boy gave them both a soft kiss on the cheek. Obviously, the girls blushed deeply. With that taken care of, the Death Knight waved a goodbye and ran out of the memorial grounds as quick as his legs could carry him. Soon, he teleported away using his cunning ability, Blink. As the girls watched him leave, they knew Naruto was lying, he left because the situation became too much for him.

_'Naruto-kun would've had a great time if he went with me...'_ thought Hinata. _'And it's all Sakura-san's fault!'_ She then glared at Sakura who was in deep thought as well.

_'Hinata-san...'_ said Sakura in her mind. _'How dare you interfere with my love life... I won't lose to you!'_ After that thought, she also flashed a stare at the heiress who was glaring at her already.  
  
"You do know he's gone because of you, right?" asked Hinata bitterly.  
  
"My fault now?" Sakura returned the question. "Who's fault is it for pressuring him?"  
  
"When did I do that? You were the one who pulled him when I already claimed his hand."  
  
"Because I claimed him first."  
  
"Forehead girl!"  
  
"Pupiless eyes!" The two fired death glares again before they pouted and walked different directions towards their home. Little did they know the Death Knight was in the trees listening to them closely, he didn't had the heart to leave just yet.

'_What am I going to do now?'_ he thought as he covered his face with his hands until nightfall. For once in his life, he wanted to run away not thinking such troubles. He cared a lot about Hinata of course but he couldn't do anything that could possibly hurt Sakura now. Naruto shook those thoughts out of his mind however his conscience failed to agree with him. Whenever a smiling Hinata or Sakura appeared in his vision, a sense of pain seemed to sear through his heart. He cursed himself for being so soft all of a sudden but this was a time to allow his genuine self to take action. Yet, he just felt so lost.  
  
**_AN: Another long chapter done. Looks like the Hinata/Sakura rivalry is intensifying as each chapter goes by. I hope you all liked it, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it. Now, our hero struggles with himself not knowing what to do. Even though he has matured a lot, when it comes to these situations, who actually has a clear idea of how to proceed? I am sure no one does, at least I don't. Personally, I choose death over this. Anyway, please, please REVIEW! I really want to know your opinions on how you guys like it so far. It helps me a lot. Also, please tell me if you want the Wave Country incident in here. Your opinions could always come in handy. However, if I type it, it would take me a lot longer to update. If you want quick update, choose wisely. Later for now!_**


	7. Vicious Reality

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 7: Vicious Reality_

Disclaimer: FOR THE LAST TIME! I don't own Naruto or Warcraft 3! I just love these two things so I am writing a fic about it. Please don't sue if you don't have to! If you do sue, man I will get my vengeance when I come out of jail. When I do come out, oh, you will be sorry! So, don't sue. (You DON'T!)

"...": Speech.

_'...'_: Thoughts

Scene Changes are lists in bolded italic brackets.

**AN: This is OpposingForce speaking, thank you all for your honest opinions! I have to thank somebody who said my fighting scenes are good, it really encouraged me. Not only that, I'm glad some of you actually answered the question that I asked at the end of the chapter. So the moral of this is READ WHAT I NEED TO SAY, THIS FIC IS WRITTEN BY YOUR SUPPORT! No, I wasn't mad, I just needed to 'express' myself in another form. Don't worry, I am not mad. By the looks of it, the vote on the Wave country thing seems to be tying right now, emmm... seems really troublesome right now. There is one thing I have to thank, the song Next Year's Today by Eason Chan! (I AM cantonese after all, if you don't know him that is fine.) That song made me think a lot. To tell you the truth, I really don't like the Wave Country idea, it would take me too long and I really want to get the chunnin exam on the road as soon as I can. To all Haku fans, please don't worry, Haku WILL be alive. I'll get him in the story somehow. Without further adieu, let's get this thing started.**

**_(That current evening)_**

It was the same evening as Team 7 passed Kakashi's survival training, Team 7 has become the official genin team that would be guided by the genius jounin Hatake Kakashi. However, Hyuga Hinata wasn't too happy at all. Sure, she was glad that she passed just like how her older cousin Hyuga Neji passed last year but the test wasn't the key element that made her so upset was the fact she had herself a rival. A rival by the name of Haruno Sakura, one of the academy's most popular girls, what luck.

_'Amongst every person who graduated, why did she had to be one on my team?_' she kept asking herself that question. _'Is Kami-sama against me or what? A boy would do, any boy would do. Even if it was Sasuke-kun I would be fine since I would naturally pick Naruto-kun and he would've no objections to my love. Why did Sakura-san have to be on my team?'_ She sighed sadly and walked back into the gates of the Hyuga mansion with a quite depressed look. As she entered she bumped into someone. It appeared she was so absorbed that she didn't even notice if anyone was actually there. She quickly apologized without even looking at the person or had the intention of caring who the person was, she just kept walking.

"Hinata-sama, wait," called the person she bumped just now. She knew this voice.

"What do you want, Neji-ni-san?" asked Hinata in an annoyed tone. "I already apologized to you, why can't you just leave me be?"

"Whoa..." Neji was taken quite aback at her words. "I know you said sorry, you're really not yourself today, Hinata-sama. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I never felt better in my life!" she exclaimed sarcastically. Anyone in the right mind would know something was definitely wrong. Neji has never seen his little cousin like this, it kind of worried him.

"Hinata-sama, what is really wrong?" Without saying anything, the Hyuga heiress went to the older Hyuga and hugged her older cousin just trying to calm herself down. Neji knew this all too well, that was what she always did when she was sad. "You want to talk about it?"

"You busy right now?" she asked no louder than a whisper.

"Not at the moment, I had a day off luckily."

"You want to come into my room instead of the living room?" Neji nodded at that suggestion and followed her lead back into the Hyuga estate.

**_(Inside Hinata's bedroom, no, nothing is happening for all perverts out there!)_**

"So what is this all about, Hinata-sama?" asked Neji sitting a few feet in front of her. He then offered her a cup of tea and she slowly drank it.

"It's about him, Neji-ni-san..." answered Hinata quietly as she took another silent sip. The Hyuga genius obviously knew who this 'him' was. Why wouldn't he know, Hinata talked about him whenever she was sad, which was pretty often. Despite how many times his name was mentioned, Neji never got sick of it since he wanted the best for his little cousin.

"Hinata-sama, how many times have I told you? That guy won't come back, move on, forget about him and save yourself from a lot of grief. With his sudden departure nearly 7 years ago, you could assume that he's dead." However, Hinata gave a warm smile.

"You're wrong, Neji-ni-san," said Hinata with a smile across her face.

"What do you mean by that? What? Did you see him? Is he still alive?" Neji pushed on his questions with much interest, all lavender eye girl could do was wait until he was done.

"He's the male genin on my team. He came back a few days ago."

"He's actually back?" asked Neji with his eyes widening a bit. "That's great news for you, Hinata-sama. Did you tell him your feelings yet? You have been hiding it for so long, you really should tell him." Hinata shook her head slightly and Neji's more excited expression turned into a frown. "Why not tell him?"

"He changed so much... so much that I couldn't even imagine. He's so secretive, collected, mysterious and unpredictable...."

"Unpredictable?" questioned a confused Hyuga male. "Like too mischievous?"

"No, not that. I mean, he's very... you know... you can't use logic to predict was he's trying to do, not that it's a bad thing. You can say his strength is unbelievable. We had the bell exercise today, you know about the teamwork?" Neji nodded and continued to listen attentively. "Naruto took on Kakashi-sensei one on one and he was beating him. In the end, he asked us to aid him but I know that he didn't need our help at all." The older Hyuga's eyes widened as he heard this.

Kakashi, the genius who has the Sharingan in his left eye, the rival of his sensei, Maito Gai (AN: I'm just mention his name now, you will see the real person a little later), was challenged by a genin and lost. He was getting impatient, he had to know more. "Naruto defeated Kakashi-sensei... it didn't even look like he was using his full potential." Neji froze, he challenged Kakashi before but he wasn't even close to beat him (AN:That was a several months ago, now he's obviously a lot stronger.).

'_How did that guy beat him?'_ Neji thought with amazement.

"Does his strength scare you, Hinata-sama?" Hinata simply shook her head.

"I feel very secure when I'm with him. But he always seem to be hiding something from me, he either doesn't talk about it or just ignores it. He talks to people but he never talks about himself. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I'm in love with him..."

"If you love him, you have to tell him."

"I don't think I can..." Neji gave her a confused look. "Someone else likes him too. I have a rival..."

'_A rival?'_ thought Neji. _'It better not be a person like Lee...'_

"She's my teammate, Haruno Sakura... how can I compete with her? She's very pretty, smart, charming, by the looks of it, she's sincere and gentle..."

"Nonsense, you have plenty of good qualities. You're honest, supportive, encouraging, a very good listener, you're not someone who pressures people and most importantly, you're always there for others. Look, you have a lot of friends in the academy, Uchiha Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino... I don't know why they are mostly guys but that's not the point." Hinata blushed a little hearing that fact, she of course knew the reason. All the other girls in the class were Sasuke-fan-girls, only the male students were left for her to be friends with. "You are very charming in your own way, Hinata-sama, that's why you are able to make friends especially ones of the opposite gender, I really thought your friends were just girls." Neji then poked her on her soft cheek which made her blush even deeper. "Trust me, if you weren't my cousin, I would've dated you long ago if I could."

"Yeah, same. But will Naruto-kun pay attention to me?" she asked nervously.

"He will, you two are on the same team after all. Have more confidence in yourself. I'm sure Naruto would see the real you one day. Hey, I did too remember?"

"When can I tell him how I feel?"

"That I really don't know. But when the moment is right, you'll know."

"Oh yeah, how are your teammates doing?" asked the Hyuga heiress.

"Gai-sensei is still being a lame butt. Lee is starting to act exactly like him and even has the same jumpsuit and the bowl haircut. Well, at least Lee still has his own character to a certain extent. Tenten... she has been quite stressed out lately since sensei needed to train her in hand to hand combat. She wants me to spend more time with her on the training since Lee well... you know..."

"You like Tenten-san don't you?" she asked teasingly.

"Well... I... I..." At this point Neji was blushing already but he had to keep a straight face. "You should worry about yourself first, I got to go and meet someone. Later."

"To meet Tenten-san?" Neji's eyes narrowed in disbelief and exited the room rather quickly. Hinata giggled, she knew she was right. With Hinata alone in the room, she used the time well to think about how to make Naruto notice and fall in love with her. It was a long night indeed.

**_(Morning during the very next day)_**

Morning came by quickly as the alarm clock in Naruto's apartment started its unbearable racket when it reach 8 AM. The Death Knight smashed it into pieces of useless metal as he was just getting to the good part of his dream. In his dream, Hinata was in there, that was all he could recall. He cursed under his breath and went on with his daily routines.

He then got dressed in black jeans with a ninja armour vest covered with a light dark blue jacket. He then tied his forehead protector on his forehead that spiked up his hair a little bit more. The dark shinobi didn't even bother to have breakfast this morning, too much was on his mind. He sat on the couch with emotionless eyes, they were always like that when no one was around. He no longer cared about anything, other than the fact he couldn't tell Hinata or Sakura about his bloodstained heritage (AN: There is actually a fic by that name!). Even though he didn't show it, deep down he cared for Hinata a lot, he would never do anything to make her upset. His own life alone would make Hinata so down that it would feel like his runeblade stabbed through his heart. She would hate him, Sakura would too. He knew both girls liked him a lot, and it wasn't any silly crush, it was for real.

The Death Knight knew how much the girls wanted to know more about him, especially Hinata. However, the cost was just too high to take. He sighed and took out his novel Life and Death Paradise Volume 2 to look for the answers he needed. It always helped. As he opened the front door with his book covering his face, he didn't even know someone was there.

"Sorry," he said as he kept walking not caring at all. (AN: He could get really into the novel.)

"Na-Naruto-kun..." Once he heard that voice, he knew who it was. Only one person in this village called him by that.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked turning around while putting his novel back into his pouch quickly. "Good morning, what are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"

"I... Iruka-sensei showed me this place before..." she answered nervously. "I'm sorry if you think I am a stalker... I better go..." As she was about to turn away and leave, Naruto saw she was carrying a Japanese style lunchbox of some kind. At that point, he figured why she was here.

"Hinata-chan, wait!" he said that last part a bit louder than he thought. He then grabbed her by the arm making her stop but to his surprise he wondered why he did that. She stiffened when he did so but soon relaxed. "I'm not mad, Hinata-chan, nor do I think you're a stalker." He then held her by both her shoulders which made her blush a little but her flush was more visible when her turned her around and looked directly into her lavender eyes. "You made breakfast for me didn't you?" Hinata nodded shyly trying not to be lost in his cerulean eyes. Her mind was filled with joy.

"I... I wanted... I mean, I was hoping if you and I could have breakfast together..." _'I have to be brave...'_ said Hinata in her head. _'I can't get him to notice me if I'm a coward...'_ She didn't dare look at him in the eyes, she was afraid of a rejection, his rejection. All she could do was wait.

"I would love to, Hinata-chan." The response he gave her made her melt. A massive wave of emotions raced through her head, she didn't know how to react. He then took her hand gently but genuinely. "C'mon, I can tell you're hungry. And Hinata-chan, you didn't have to work yourself so hard for me." His words were very kind, the heiress' heart was beating so fast she could faint at the spot.

"I wanted to, Naruto-kun..." she replied with a shade of fuchsia.

"You're very sweet, Hinata-chan." He then bent down slightly to give her a kiss on the cheek. It was then when she nearly passed out. Blood was rushing to her cheeks so quickly that she couldn't take it, it was overwhelming. Uncontrollably, she fell into his arms, her eyes were gleaming with absolute tranquillity. _'Hinata-chan blushes so easily, it's very cute too.'_ thought Naruto lifting her in a marriage like scenario. _'Maybe that kiss was too much for her but I know she liked it.'_ With that thought ended, he carried her inside and allowed her to rest on the couch. He really didn't want to have his best friend in this situation. (AN: Would you? If you said yes, I am sure you won't have a lot of friends later on in your life)

_(Moments Later)_

"Where... where am I?" asked Hinata as she slowly opening her eyes. She gasped when she saw Naruto was sitting beside her. To be more specific, his lap was her pillow.

"You're awake, Hinata-chan," said Naruto with a smile offering her a cup of water. She then sat up silently and softly. "Don't worry about it, you're just in my living room." She took the cup and drank the contents slowly.

"What happened just now?"

"You fainted after I kissed you on the cheek," explained Naruto while chuckling silently. Her eyes completely opened, she couldn't believe that she fainted in front of the person she loved because of a kiss, that must've made her look like a weakling. Her hopes slid down to 0, her chances to claim his heart had just become minimal. "Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan," continued Naruto knowing what she was thinking of. "When a girl first kissed me, I basically reacted the same way. That happened when I was like 8."

"Who kissed you then?" asked Hinata allowing her curiosity to take over.

"My little sister." answered Naruto with a smile.

"I never recall you having a sister..."

"Of course you don't, she isn't my biological sister. Our relationship with one another is really sibling like. I met her in the deep forests one day when I was like 7 or 8. She was stranded from her family so Jiraiya sensei and I took her along with us in our worldwide journey. I got to know her really well, she was definitely the best partner I could have, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be alive right now."

"Is that so..." said Hinata sadly. But Naruto didn't catch her tone yet.

"Yeah, she's really an amazing girl to be with, anyone would like her. She reminds me of you when I first met her. Shy, quiet, kind, sincere and always supportive, those are really your qualities." Hinata then smiled when he heard him say his sister reminded him of her, not the other way around. Hinata knew Naruto never truly forgotten her.

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Rin, Kamishiro Rin."

"Is she pretty?"

"Very. You can say guys would blush if she turned her head towards their direction. I saw it happen many times."

"Do you love her?" asked the Hyuga girl trying her best to keep her envy inside.

"Yeah, she's my sister after all. Rin-chan is really important to me. I consider her as family, I would do almost anything to make her feel happy and appreciated." Hinata nodded while Naruto smiled at her considerately. "Hinata-chan, I know what you're thinking, you're afraid that Rin-chan would have good qualities in her that may be better than yours. I'll say this, no matter how pretty or nice she is, in my eyes, you are always better."

"Do you mean that?" she asked lightening up a lot. He nodded with a smile. Hinata's eyes tear up and hugged the boy immediately. Naruto was expecting it this time, he was glad that she was back to her cheerful self. He embraced her without any slight of doubt, he knew he was doing the right thing. Despite how much Hinata wanted that embrace to last, she broke out of it. She couldn't believe how cold the room actually was without his warmth, Naruto felt the same way as well. The Death Knight was surprised how disappointed he was when she wasn't in contact any longer. Luckily, the Hyuga heiress still held his hand. "Naruto-kun, if Rin-san is your sister, where is she now?"

"She's at her home country, the Hidden Village of Air. She went home last year or so and became a chunnin. I wanted to take it with her but she wanted me to become a chunnin of Konoha. She always thought about me when I never think of myself."

"Do you miss her?" she asked sincerely as Naruto nodded sadly.

"I miss her a lot. She was always there for me when I had my emotional breakdowns. We were always there for each other. She taught me how I should never fail to utilize human assets in achievement of goal. Whenever there is a war, no one could fight it alone."

"You really do have a supportive and caring sister, Naruto-kun," said Hinata kindly.

"I know I do, Hinata-chan. Thank you. Hey, you know what? I think we should finish your breakfast before we are really late." Hinata agreed happily as she took his hand to help herself back up. Without knowing the reason, the heiress gently kissed him on the cheek. The Death Knight obviously blushed while Hinata giggled cutely. Naruto then opened the box, it smelled delicious. To him, this had to be better than anything that he ate in his whole life. The two ate in silence but they often stole glances at another. When the other noticed another's attention, they would quickly look away. With this action going on, there was no need for words since their presence alone satisfied one another.

**_(Currently at the bridge where Team 7 was supposed to meet that morning)_**

Sakura had been waiting on the designated waiting area for over half an hour. Due to Naruto's words, she expected that pervert to be late. However, she was surprised to see Naruto and Hinata not there yet. To her knowledge, the dark shinobi should be the very first one to be here. When it hit her mind that Hinata wasn't here, she wondered what the Hyuga girl would be doing? Was she trying to hit on Naruto already? No, Sakura refused to believe that, there was no way Hinata would take that much of an initiative. More thoughts came to the emerald-eyed genin as she thought about how to really attract Naruto. Amongst all the guys she met in her life, Naruto and Sasuke were the most different. She had to admit her teammate was really like Sasuke. Other people would like her because she was pretty or popular but Naruto never looked into that aspect, he wanted to be her friend because he knew it was something he should do as a teammate. He complimented her looks, yes, but he never got lost into them unlike some other males in the classroom. The key thing that attracted Sakura was the way the blue-eyed genin talked.

He never looked like he was in a gaze, he always maintained control of the situation and willingly open up things that others could reflect on or add to the conversation. Sakura felt ashamed for liking him because of his looks at first and not his inner self. It was like the same reason why she liked Sasuke, it was no surprise why Sasuke never paid attention to her and decided to be Hinata's friend. Since the heiress always looked within, many of the males were her friends. It was something Sakura envied, what made her even more angry was the fact that she could've done the same but chose to be like a lovesick puppy to Sasuke.

She sighed disappointedly to herself and thought about the Death Knight again. No, this time something suddenly hit her. In truth, it was a several things. Somehow, she felt that they met before. There was this peculiar bond that made her felt secure. She had to admit they didn't know each other for a very long time but this feeling of security was definitely there. Sakura could tell Naruto was hiding a lot within himself and refused to talk about it. He talked about other people, how their lives are whatever but he never used himself much as an example. It was like as if his life was a sign of poison. The strangest part was his eyes, Sakura could never forget those teal pupils that suddenly flashed when he removed his blindfold the very first time she met him. They felt like they could pierce through your soul if it wanted to. She then decided, even if she wins him or not, she wanted to know more about him, it became her mission.

"Sakura-chan!" called Naruto from a far giving a slight wave. Sakura brightened but soon returned to normal when she saw Hinata next to him holding his arm while blushing. "Sorry we're late..."

"It's okay..." replied Sakura controlling her disappointment. "Where were you guys though? We were supposed to meet here at 9, not like 9:30."

"Yeah... Hinata-chan and I had breakfast this morning so that's why."

"Oh, why didn't you invite me?" she questioned. She already expected Hinata not to tell her but not Naruto either. "Am I a dead teammate to you?"

"No, Hinata-chan came a little late this morning and we really ate in a hurry." Hinata's head perked up as she heard Naruto defend her while he took the blame. He was lying of course, the Hyuga heiress was surprised that he was doing it so well.

"Kakashi is always late anyway, you could've called me or something."

"We really forgot..."

"As if I'll believe that," She retorted pouting slightly and turning away.

"Sakura-chan, I will make it up to you," said Naruto trying to compromise. It was then both girls looked at him. "I was thinking if you and I could have dinner tonight." Hinata's eyes widened in envy at that offer while Sakura was doing the exact opposite.

"You mean it?" asked Sakura with delight. "Just you and me?" Naruto nodded as Sakura hugged him tightly. Hinata deep down was crushed. To avoid further discussion, the Death Knight simply smiled and reached for his favourite novel. As the pink hair girl released him happily, Hinata wasn't feeling the same way. What enraged her even more was that Naruto did it right in front of her as if she didn't exist at all. As the Death Knight started to read about the human ambitions part of the novel, he felt someone slightly lowering his book. As his eyes looked up slightly, he saw a pair of sad and envious lavender ones.

"What do you need, Hinata-chan?"

"You really going to have dinner with Sakura-san?" asked Hinata in an upset expression. "What about me?"

"I need to spend equal time with my teammates, I really should know Sakura-chan better. Besides, what kind of teammate would I be if I just know how to work with one and not the other?"

"She pouts a little and you just give in."

"Do I sense jealousy in your voice, Hinata-chan?" asked male shinobi calmly.

"No, why would I be?" she countered his question. _'Oh yeah, she is...'_ thought Naruto sighing.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, it's only a dinner. It doesn't mean anything. Besides, you're my best friend, I wouldn't leave you out on anything."

"You're leaving me out now, Naruto-kun. What makes you so sure I don't want to know Sakura-san better?" She then narrowed her eyes at him to give him more pressure. The Death Knight rolled his eyes a little bit in exhaustion.

"Why don't you do that at your own time?" he said as he paid more attention to his book. He wanted to end this talk as soon as he could.

"I want to do it tonight, is there a problem?" asked Hinata putting her hands on her waist.

"Of course there is," he stated looking into her demanding eyes. "I am trying to know Sakura better tonight and I want to do it alone, thank you."

"Then take me along with you." she stated. Naruto nearly jerked back at that demand.

"Sorry, no can do. I'll treat you to something next time okay?" He then kissed her on the cheek making her blush like a strawberry. "We're friends, friends aren't suppose to abandon friends." He finished with a smile.

"Can you and I be more than friends?" she asked blindly. Naruto slightly blushed.

"Let's not talk about that right now, Hinata-chan." replied Naruto as he reverted his attention back to his novel. The Hyuga girl's eyes darkened in disappointment.

'_He's hiding again,'_ thought Hinata sadly. _'When can I tell him my feelings? I love you, Naruto-kun...'_ With Sakura seeing this, she was wondering if Naruto rejected Hinata's confession. Believing it was a good time to confess as well, something struck her mind at the split second before her throat projected a sound.

'_If he didn't want to hear anything like that from his good friend... why would he want to hear that from a stranger...'_ thought Sakura sadly. To make her feel worse, she suddenly saw her rival giving a kiss to the boy she admired. Even if it wasn't to the lips, Sakura became envious when she noticed how much Naruto liked it by showing a shade of crimson on his face. As Hinata extracted herself from the dark shinobi, she couldn't help but giggle when she saw his embarrassed face.

"You blush like a tomato, Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Hinata laughing softly.

"No... no, I do not..." mumbled Naruto attempting to hide his cheeks from her awkwardly. As hard as he might, it was never quite right for the Hyuga girl wasn't persuaded. She just giggled louder making the boy feeling even more awkward. "What... what was that kiss for?"

"Because you kissed me," answered Hinata timidly yet a little seductive.

"Is that so?" asked Naruto poking Hinata in the stomach tickling her. "If I kissed you 10 times, would you return those kisses to me?"

"Maybe I will."

"Then you're not being fair then," said Naruto getting closer to her with a smile. "Why do you get to be kissed when I don't?"

"Because... I like your kisses."

"Like I don't?" Hinata then grinned mischievously.

"Maybe." she answered cutely while trying very hard not to let Naruto have the upper hand. However, her efforts were proven futile when she laughed even louder. Naruto knew he won this little battle. Sakura tried her best not to look at them but her mind didn't agree with her. The longer she watched, the more worried she felt inside. The pink hair genin couldn't deny the fact that her other two teammates were very close. She didn't realize this today, she just chose to ignore it.

On the very first day, who was the first person Naruto decided talking to? Hinata. Even though Iruka told him to sit next to the Hyuga girl, when Sakura thought back closely, she had a feeling that he wanted to sit next to her. Who encouraged him when he had a successful test during the genin exam? Hinata. Who taught Hinata the move that finished her in one shot? Even though Hinata never told who it was, Sakura knew it must've been Naruto, there was no mistake about it. After seeing some of his attacks, Hinata's lethal attack's style was similar to the dark warrior's, he must've taught it to her. The once cheerful Sakura was really down in the dumps now. At that instant, she could tell that Naruto's heart already fell for her rival, she had no doubt about it. Her hopes of tonight's dinner wasn't as high as it used to be, all she could hope for now was she would come out of it in one piece.

**_(A necessary scene change, you will see why around... right now)_**

Several LONG hours later at the Hokage's office:

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," greeted Kakashi followed by his team of three with a very annoyed expression on their faces. Naruto's eye was glaring at the jounin while twitching slightly now and then. Sakura was basically doing the same thing but the twitching was a lot more constant. Hinata, hers was the scariest, it was just a smile, a smile without moving a muscle. Naruto and Sakura cold sweated remembering what they saw earlier, a shiver suddenly went down their spines as the heiress turned to face them asking what was wrong. The duo gave back a nothing and pretended nothing happened while something was freaking them out.

"Kakashi," said the 3rd giving a slight cough. "You are 3 hours late and you didn't pick up your mission info for the kids. I really hope you don't pass this horrible habit of yours to your genins."

"I am so sorry, Hokage-sama..." said Kakashi bowing with a nervous smile.

"I'll be really disappointed if Naruto turned out like you," said Jiraiya since he was present in the room at that time. "I never recalled the 4th teaching you to have such a lack of effort in punctuality."

"Why were you late?" questioned the 3rd.

"Because there was this woman outside my apartment tripped." answered Kakashi making up a horrible excuse. He really had some guts doing it in front of the Hokage, it was a good thing that Naruto wasn't the one in charge. "Being a good citizen, I had to..."

"Stop lying!" shouted Sakura losing her temper.

"Hokage-sama," said Hinata sweetly then her face flashed the deadliest glare Naruto has ever seen in his life to the jounin. "He was at the bookstore... Naruto-kun, would you mind ending the rest?"

"Reading Icha Icha Paradise Volume 6." finished Naruto completely obeying his best friend's command without a second thought. He never saw Hinata that upset before, he now knew she hated perverts, even more than he did. "He was reading it so attentively that he didn't even pick up our mission info."

"I said I was sorry that I forgot!" justified Kakashi.

"What kind of instructor forgets that?" questioned Sakura irritated.

"I swear it was an accident!"

"Yeah, you accidentally did it on purpose!" snapped Hinata angrily.

"You didn't seem to forget about your Icha Icha Paradise, Kakashi!" added the Death Knight losing his usual cool but not by a lot.

"C'mon guys, be reasonable..." said Kakashi. "I have been collecting all the other 5 volumes of it, you know I had to get that new copy." Meanwhile, Jiraiya had a very wide grin on his face and he seemed to be quite satisfied at something Kakashi just said. Naruto glanced over at Jiraiya with that stupid look, he sighed. 'Great, we have two perverts in this room, can't life get anymore wonderful?" he thought sarcastically as Jiraiya silently made his way to the masked jounin.

"Kakashi," said Jiraiya putting his hand on the jounin's shoulder with a smile. "I never knew you liked my books!" Sakura and Hinata both stared blankly at Jiraiya, they couldn't believe that old man next to the Hokage was the author of that perverted novel. Who would anyway? The girls eyed him suspiciously to make sure he wouldn't look at their bodies with any dirty looks. They made sure they watched out for their instructor as well for he was also a pervert. The only person who seemed to be normal was the Hokage and Naruto. By the sigh the Third just gave, Naruto knew nothing good would come out of this conversation.

"Jiraiya-sama," said Kakashi. "You have no idea how much I like your novels." A pervert wasn't someone that should be proud of but being a shameless pervert was even worse.

"Don't give him any ideas, Jiraiya-sensei," hissed Naruto silently. Obviously Jiraiya had no intention whatsoever to listen to his apprentice. The girl's eyes widened even more when they heard Naruto calling the old man sensei. That was the sensei Naruto was talking about, their eyes were filled with suspicion and disbelief. His sensei, the author of that very sick book and he trained Naruto. One common thought hit the girls. _'NO WAY! That's so fake...'_ However, it was the truth, a very sad truth.

"You know," continued Jiraiya in a cheerful tone. "I'm recently working on Volume 7 and it's near completion. Since you are such a good fan, I could give you first dibs on it. In fact, let me make a better deal, I'll give you a free copy when it's done." Kakashi suddenly lightened up by a lot.

"Really? Thank you so much, Jiraiya-sama!" said Kakashi with much gratitude and appreciation. His students and the 3rd's eyes twitched is disbelief as the two perverts exited the room as if they were the best of buddies. It was clear to anyone that Kakashi cared a lot more about his novel than anything else. The trio sweatdropped awkwardly as they turned back to the Hokage.

'_Amongst every instructor...' _thought Sakura trying her best in controlling her infernal rage. _'Why do we have to get him?' _

'_I really hope Naruto-kun isn't a pervert...'_ said Hinata in her mind. The Death Knight on the other hand was attempting really hard not to send a legion of Death Coils at those two.

'_I should've killed you when I had the chance, Kakashi..._' thought Naruto bitterly. _'Jiraiya-sensei, don't worry I haven't forgotten about you... I'll make sure you suffer.' _He then activated his Unholy Sight due to blinding rage with a flashing death glare. Hinata and Sakura jerked back almost immediately when they saw his eyes, they were teal, glowing radiantly with a sense of killing intent behind it. If they were in a dark room, the only things they would see would be a pair of green eyes.

"Naruto," called the 3rd kindly which snapped the Death Knight back to reality.

"What?" questioned Naruto with a cold expression.

"I have to tell you that you guys won't have a mission today."

"What?" asked the girls in unison.

"You guys were very late this morning, Team 8 and Team 10 took your missions since I assumed that you guys wouldn't show up."

'_By the time we showed up, it's only natural for anybody to think that we would even come...'_ thought Hinata sadly.

"Is there at least a simple mission?" asked Naruto. "I really don't want to do nothing all afternoon." Secretly, the girls wanted to hang out with him since they had no mission. But when Naruto brought it up, they might as well see how it would go. They knew what Naruto was trying to do, he didn't want to get seduced.

"Well... there is one..." mumbled the Hokage searching his files on the desk. When he found a yellow folder, he handed to Naruto who immediately started to read it. "Let's see how you like it. You may start this immediately."

"Shouldn't we go with Kakashi-sensei?" asked Hinata shyly in a silent voice. "He is a jounin after all."

"I don't think he'll be back anytime soon, Hinata..." admitted the 3rd with a deep sigh. The girls were inclined to agree, by the way Kakashi left, it seemed like the two were having the best conversation ever. Naruto continued reading and a smirk came across his face.

"It really doesn't matter if Kakashi comes or not," said Naruto half laughing sarcastically.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" asked Sakura coming next to him to read the info. Hinata soon followed and their eyes narrowed when they read the important stuff.

"How do you like your first Konoha mission, Naruto?" asked the old man Hokage knowing Naruto completed plenty of other missions before. He felt like teasing him but the glare Naruto sent back showed that his feeling wasn't a pleasant one. Naruto dropped the stare and glanced over to the girls to see their reaction, he could tell it was only a matter of time before they blow.

"Why do we have to search for a lost cat?!" questioned the girls not believing this at all.

When the mission ended that day, the Death Knight was bored out of his mind. The mission went by very quickly, with the boy's abilities, the search and hunt lasted less than half an hour. What angered the team even more was the fact when they brought the cat back to the owner, the cat immediately fled again when Team 7 left the Hokage's office. Even though Hinata and Sakura didn't show much irritation, the Death Knight knew they were annoyed. Who wouldn't be? The mission was lame and they had to do it twice in one day. The payment wasn't high, 4000 yen (AN: around less than $40 Canadian, I think...) wasn't the ideal wage for such a boring mission. Naruto at that point knew being a genin sucked a lot. There were no killing missions, being a spy or undercover, no ambush and sabotages and most importantly, there was nothing coming out of it. What was beneficial in that previous mission? Nothing, absolutely nothing other than a few dollars and a permanent record that proved that you did a mission.

When it came to personal ninja development, anyone could say that mission actually dulled your senses. One thing struck Naruto's mind, why did ninjas have to do those missions. A lot of those D missions are things that the people who hire people to do them could do themselves. Naruto recalled there were situations like walking other people's dogs, watch over someone else's store while the owner felt like playing mahjong (AN: That is like impossible but I had to dramatize the ridiculousness of D rank missions.), babysitting while the parents had the ability to do it themselves etc.

'_I'm a Death Knight!'_ thought Naruto getting ticked off_. 'I can't get any stronger if I keep doing these missions...'_ Just then he felt someone encircling their arms softly around his neck into a loving embrace, he already knew who it was, this happened often when he was a kid.

"Naruto-kun..." cooed Hinata adorably while still hugging him. Sakura felt her eye twitched.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto turning his head slightly nearly kissing her. When she saw his head move, she quickly retracted but deep down she wanted to kiss him right there and now.

"How did you like your first mission?"

"What do you think?" he questioned in a joking manner.

"I don't think you liked it too much, Naruto-kun." She then hugged him tighter making him blush a little bit since at that point he could feel her body completely.

"So, how did you feel about it then?" He was trying hard to keep a straight face, this time it was convincing enough to make Hinata believe it.

"I thought it was boring, but I liked it since I was with you." she admitted with a smile and hopped on his back making the boy giving her a piggyback.

"Is that so?" he said understandingly. Sakura saw enough, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Hinata-san, get off Naruto!" demanded Sakura not very pleased at all.

"But Naruto-kun really likes me on his back don't you, Naruto-kun?" asked the heiress with a giggle.

"Yeah..." replied Naruto. "You always did this when we were kids, sneaking up on me and jumped on me whether I was prepared or not. There were even times that you would pretend to be hurt so I would piggyback you."

"You did it voluntarily," said Hinata sweetly. "You can't blame me."

"Sure I can, if I didn't pick you up, you would cry." Hinata giggled a lot. "You were spoiled back then Hyuga Hinata, you were bad."

"You two knew each other when you were kids?" asked a surprised Sakura. Her mood went down considerably when the two nodded. Everything began to click together all of a sudden, the reason why Naruto seemed so relaxed talking to Hinata and not to mention they joked around from time to time when the boy never did when it came to her. Her hopes slid down by another notch.

"I like you too, Sakura-chan," said Naruto. "I will explain everything tonight, okay?" He then leaned slightly to give Sakura a gentle kiss, the girl flushed immediately while Naruto chuckled and released the girl who was currently on his back. She let out a silent groan of disappointment but decided to drop it when Naruto poked her soft cheek a little. "Well Sakura-chan, would you meet me at Ichikaru's Ramen at around 6 tonight? I would be glad if you show up."

"Of course I would!" exclaimed Sakura excitedly.

"Great I'll see you there tonight. Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, I'll get going now." He did a farewell wave before he formed a set of seals and teleported away. The pink haired girl then made her way back home with a smile on her face, she didn't even bother bickering with her rival, she wanted to save her strength for tonight. The Hyuga heiress had other plans for she headed the direction opposite of where Naruto went to, she knew exactly what she should do for tonight.

**_(At Uchiha Sasuke's apartment that early evening)_**

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun!" shouted Hinata banging on the apartment door that belonged to the Uchiha. Knowing that sweet voice, the raven hair genin opened the door and greeted her with a smile.

"Hinata-san, what a surprise," said Sasuke. "You want to come in?" Hinata nodded and quickly found herself on the couch. Being a good host, the Uchiha went to the fridge and took out a can of juice and offered it to his friend. The heiress accepted it politely and drank it slowly. "So, what brings you here?"

"This might sound sudden," said Hinata timidly. "But are you busy tonight?"

"Me? Not at all, why?"

"I want to ask you a favor... can you accompany me to wherever I am going tonight?"

"You mean as a date?" asked Sasuke nearly choking on his soda. "You know I don't do dates, even though you are my friend, I have..."

"I don't mean that..." interrupted the Hyuga girl. "Let me put it this way, I want you to be my spying buddy."

"Spying buddy? That I could do." answered Sasuke with a smile. "But I want to ask who are you trying to spy on? This must be quite important... is it about him?" The girl nodded. Sasuke knew clearly knew who this him was, Hinata told him about it before but he never knew who the specific person was. "Why are you bringing him up all of a sudden? Is he back?"

"You want to know who it is, right?" Sasuke nodded allowing his curiosity to win over. "He's the person who beat you in the genin exam..."

"Naruto?" exclaimed Sasuke not believing what he was hearing. "You mean Naruto was the person that you have been waiting for all these years?" She nodded silently. "I can't believe it, Hinata-san you have to tell him how you feel, you can't wait any longer."

"That's why I need you tonight," explained Hinata. "Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are having a dinner tonight, I want to see if anything goes too out of control... if you know what I mean..."

"I get it, don't worry, I'll be there. What time and where?"

"6 tonight at Ichikaru's Ramen." she answered with a smile. With that out of the way, Hinata soon left the Uchiha's apartment allowing him to plan for tonight while she needed to do some preparations of her own. Deep down, she was quite nervous of what the outcome was going to be.

**_(At Ichikaru's Ramen later that evening)_**

Sakura went to the place Naruto designated at the preferred time that evening, she of course wasn't surprised to see him already there waiting patiently. The boy seemed to have a lot on his mind, Sakura could see that right through him. Little did she know, Hinata and Sasuke were hiding nearby preparing to listen to the entire thing. Naruto didn't even detect his new friend's presence, he started to snap back to reality when he heard her voice calling his name. He smiled a bit and offered her a seat.

"Why aren't they doing anything?" asked Hinata to Sasuke.

"She just arrived, what do you expect her to do?" answered Sasuke in a hiss. "Just keep watching." From afar, the two could see Naruto giving an order while Sakura was sitting rather quietly not making a move at all. As the food came to them, both of them ate silently not speaking a word to each other. Hinata couldn't understand why her rival wasn't doing anything, she was alone with him, it was the perfect time! (AN: I ain't gonna explain too much on the dinner, I don't find it really necessary. I really don't like mushy-mushy stuff with Naruto and Sakura, I can't stand writing it. Also, what is so fun about two people eating ramen? There is no point in that)

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto breaking their long silence. "Why are you so quiet?"

"I don't think that talking would be necessary, Naruto..." she answered.

"I thought you had a lot of questions you might want to ask."

"I do, but I think I already have most of the answers I need..."

"You might as well ask while you have the chance." Suggested Naruto while taking a zip of water.

"Fine," said Sakura. "How long have you known Hinata-san for?"

"I say ever since I was 5, she isn't my best friend for nothing. She was the most important person in my life and she still is now."

"Do you like her more than a friend?"

"No, I don't like her like that..." answered Naruto sincerely and silently. 'I think I love her...' he added in thought.

"If you don't like in that sense, give me a chance, Naruto."

"I think you two should drop the rivalry," stated the Death Knight seriously. "Sakura-chan, I like you, I really do but you have to understand that I don't feel the same way towards you. There's no point in fighting over someone that never felt the same way towards you. In a love triangle, there will always be one person who would get left out and I know it hurts. Please Sakura-chan, don't allow yourself to fall into that trap, I really don't want to see you get hurt. I know my words hurt you spiritually right now but you have to realize that I'm trying to make this damage infliction to a minimum at the best of my ability..."

"I understand, Naruto..."

"Sakura-chan, I still want you to be my friend. You are a worthy friend and I want to treat you as a special person in my life. Believe me, it really pains me to see you get hurt. Whether we are a pair or not, when you are in trouble or a state of confusion, I really want to help you out because of who you are. What I am saying is... the first time I met you... I felt that you were like my sister and I always felt that way..."

"A sister?" she asked sadly. He nodded with a sad grin. "What is Hinata-san in your life? Is she more important?"

"I don't know... but I know that I care about her a lot too. I worry even more when she's sad or depressed. You have no idea how happy I feel when a smile creeps up on her face. It does brighten my day every time. Sakura-chan, your smiles lighten me up as well, I never want to see a frown on that pretty face of yours either."

"I make you happy too?"

"You do, you really do. Before our friendship falls apart, I really want you to know that this competition between you and Hinata-chan was already decided when Hinata-chan was put on this team. I don't intend to start any relationships and what not but I choose Hinata-chan over you." He was really surprised that she didn't cry a single drop. Somehow, she was smiling.

"Thanks for telling me, Naruto... actually I already knew that I would lose when I figured out that you two knew each other since you were kids. You two were really close all the time as if you know what each other were thinking... I do feel envious but I know there's nothing I could do to break that strong bond between you two. I wish you both the best..."

"Don't start wishing anything now, Sakura-chan," said Naruto with a chuckle. "I'm not having a relationship any time soon. I don't like Hinata like you think I do." The pink hair girl gave him an unconvinced look but the Death Knight pretended that he didn't see it. 'I can lie all I want,' thought Naruto. 'But I could never lie to myself. I fell in love with Hinata-chan... I know it... but I can't tell her... I can't fall in love with her because of who I am... I am a Death Knight, a demonic half demon half human... a demon could never be together with a human, it's just not possible.'

"Naruto... you are very special to me too," said Sakura with a blush. "Even though you don't like me like a girlfriend... you said I was like your sister... can I call you Naruto-nichan from now on? You really are like an older brother to me, one who I always wanted." He smiled genuinely and gave her a nod. What surprised her was that he gave her a kiss on the forehead. She flushed like a tomato immediately as he laughed to himself.

"How do you like the gift you brother gave you, Sakura-chan?" he asked teasingly.

"I love it!" she exclaimed while she gave him a tight sisterly hug.

"Shall we go now?" Sakura nodded happily and left the ramen stand with her now closer friend holding his hand energetically. (AN: They paid for their meal, I just didn't bother to explain it.) Sasuke and Hinata finally came out from their hiding positions and watched the two leave in amazement. The Uchiha was glad that this rivalry was officially over, he was happy that his friend now had a bigger chance to win the boy's heart but when he glanced at Hinata, she wasn't as cheerful as he expected her to be. She was in deep thought, Sasuke could see that. Despite how much he wanted to know what the heiress was thinking, he knew it was wise for him not to interlude.

_'Naruto-kun... I know you were lying when you said you don't like me more than a friend,'_ thought Hinata as she felt her eyes starting to water slightly. _'I know what you meant by that, I know you love me... just like how I love you. Why won't you admit it, what are you hiding from me? I can't stop thinking about you, why won't you open up to me? I love you, I'm in love with you. Naruto-kun, I will let you know that I love you and I'll make sure that you'll tell me how you feel.'_ As she ended that thought, the remaining genins left the vicinity towards their home. The heiress knew she was very close, all it took now was a little more love and care and he would be hers. At this stage of the game, Hinata knew backing down was not an option. She was determined to win his heart since she knew he loved her as well, nothing would stand in her way.

**AN: The longest chapter ever that I wrote is now done! Man, it was a lot longer than I thought! Sorry for those who wanted some action but you know I had to deal with this conflict sooner or later. I didn't want to prolong it too much since I was starting to run out of ideas. From the beginning, I never had the thought of Naruto having both girls, he's no player and he's dedicated to only one person. Of course you all know the person is Hinata. Sorry for those who wanted this competition to last longer but I needed to end it. It was starting to bug me. Also, I have decided not to put in the Wave Country incident in here, I want to get straight to the chunnin exams since the storyline there is utterly amazing. I did enough different unexpected changes that I know you readers out there are getting impatient. Don't worry, Haku would not be dead in my story and for those who want to know about Naruto's sister, I'll say she'll show up real soon. The chunnin exam would arrive in the next 2 to 3 at most chapters so don't worry. Your REVIEWS are always welcome! I really want to hear all your suggestions and advice. Also, the next chapter will come out in the next 2 to 3 days. I hope you guys liked this chapter, thank you everyone who reviewed my story, you guys know who you are! Until next time, later! **


	8. Midnight Apprehension

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 8: Midnight Apprehension_

Disclaimer: (Takes out a 9mm Assault Rifle and holds in a shooting position) I will only say this once, I DON'T own Naruto or Warcraft 3, you got that? I'm not going to lower this rifle until you get it!

"...": Speech

_'...'_: Thoughts

Scenario exchanges are mentioned in bolded italic brackets. Why am I listing it this way you ask? Because this website fxxx things up big time, that's what!

_**AN: Not much needs to be said here, this is gonna be one hell of a long chapter! For those who wanted Wave Country... it's decided that I won't write it. It's way too troublesome to write since this isn't the original Team 7. I need to get to the Chunnin Exams as soon as I can. It should be the next or the one after, it wouldn't be too long now. THANKS again for your reviews, they are always appreciated. Man, are my chapters getting longer and longer or what? Someone's gotta stop me at sometime or I'm really gonna lose it. Anyway, hope you all like it. To those who wanted action, expect that in the exam, okay? ENJOY!**_

**_(Naruto's POV)_**

I returned home one night nearly collapsing on the futon in a completely exhausted manner. No, I wasn't tired physically, I was drained mentally. Who wouldn't after an immense amount of work and yet my body still seemed to be miraculously in tact, I suppose this wasn't something I should be ranting about. Tonight, I had a dinner with Sasuke and Sakura... well, it was more of a forced thing. They were at my door several hours ago and dragged me out of my houses demanding that I must be present. It was a drag indeed. I would explain more but it was something we were talking about during dinner that was still stuck in my head. If you don't know what today was, it was already mid July. 1 month or more has already passed by ever since Sakura and Hinata broke their rivalry for me. That point, a lot of things have happened between Team 7 and it also involved a certain member from Team 8, Uchiha Sasuke.

For the past month or so, things have been cool to a certain extent. I have trained the girls since Kakashi was now more of the official helper/assistant of Jiraiya-sensei for his Icha Icha Paradise collection, this news was still fresh in my mind and I couldn't help but to feel a bit irritated. Kakashi has been really missing in action these days, my team found him at the women baths writing down info about naked women for a several times already, he always made up stupid excuses that would resolve complete harassment from either Sakura or Hinata. I never bothered even moving a muscle, it wasn't worth it.

Hokage-sama has agreed that I would lead the team myself since he knew I had skills to become even a jounin. Of course, he just told Hinata and Sakura that I was the perfect leader, they seemed to buy it but I knew Hinata didn't. I could tell she sensed something was behind it, I was glad she didn't catch what it was completely. Did I feel troubled to see her like that, to be honest, I did but I refused to allow myself to feel any sort of unnecessary emotions. If I was leading the team myself now, what I wanted were more challenging missions. However, the Hokage explained that we still had to do some more D-missions before we reach the real deal. Knowing D-missions were a complete waste of time and effort, I made a promise to them saying I would train them myself and bless them some of my techniques. With a smile on both their radiant expressions, I was happy to see both girls reacted very positively to my offer. Hinata nearly kissed me on the lips but let's not talk about that right now.

I knew their weaknesses well from the first day I met them, both of them had enough for me to deal with. Sakura was full of flaws. No chakra capacity, no stamina, no ninjutsu, no taijutsu... when I remember how she fell to the Mana Burn, I knew she was very weak physically. Sadly enough, I didn't know what kind of strengths my pink hair sister had. However, I knew I could deal with it while Hinata's major problem was her self-confidence. It was hard for me to deal with but I decided to have patience. I knew Hinata was good at taijutsu, she had a lot of talent in ninjutsu, mastering the Mana Burn in 6 hours was all I needed to state that fact confidently, very good control of chakra... I didn't know how much chakra she had, I could safely say she had a lot in her to spare. I knew Hinata's greatest enemy was herself, her lack of self-confidence would be her downfall.

I first trained them using the tree climbing exercise to test out their control, it was a basic, something that Jiraiya-sensei tested me on when he needed to know my chakra wielding capabilities. What surprised me there was the fact Sakura did it no problem as well. At that instant, I knew her chakra control excelled even mine. That was when I needed both of them to travel up and down the tree until they got tired, this part would tell me how much chakra they had within themselves to use. To be honest, I wasn't really surprised when I saw Sakura on her knees after she walked up for 15 minutes or so while Hinata took nearly an hour. It didn't matter to me though, both strands could be improved before I taught them my stuff. The next portion of their training was a very old fashion method, doing daily drills non stop until they completed them. Everyday, I would ask them to do a 8km jog or run, 250 push ups, 250 sit ups, 150 squats, 250 jump rope, 250 punches and kicks to a log until it made a decent enough dent. I needed to improve their stamina levels since the logic was that if you had a lot of stamina, your chakra capacity should never be such a drastic difference. I believed in that as well.

We had been doing missions and training at the same time for the past month if it was D-missions since we could never afford a day without getting any stronger. To be more precise, the missions for the first two weeks had been crap after crap. Before Kakashi abandoned the group, he justified that that was what all genins began with. The logic behind it was that we would have basic experience before the actual real deal, as if I would ever believe that. If it really was as successful as predicted, Sakura and Hinata wouldn't be talking to me all the time during our tasks. In my class of normal missions, the only time we had the chance to communicate would be before the mission and possibly call for assistance. Goodness gracious, I wasn't born to put up with this shit.

C-missions were different, they actually took more effort to complete and it really helped Hinata build up her self-confidence since all of them involved battling. The only way you had more confidence to do things was if you did it often. So the more they trained and participate in real life combat situations more, it was only natural they won't fear it if they had decent experience. That logic worked for me, it also worked for them. After about 2 weeks of intense training, I knew both of them were ready to take on the training of my Hidden Techniques. Their stamina and chakra levels increased by at least triple, my eyes never lied once, I could sense their improvements by just looking at them.

_**(General POV: Flashback)**_

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan," said Naruto with a bright smile on his face. Both girls looked at him with interest, they seemed really curious at what he had to say. "It has been nearly two weeks... what do you girls say if I started to teach you some new techiniques?" Both girls nodded happily in agreement while he gave them a smile in return.

"It's about time you taught us something, Naruto-ni-chan!" exclaimed Sakura as held his hand gripping it really hard on purpose.

"That would be nice..." said Hinata timidly. The Death Knight took a short glance at them again giving them a warm smile. He observed their bodies to make sure they were physically fit to do this. By the look on their more built arms, he knew they were very prepared for the next challenge. However, Naruto was a little too focused at what Hinata was wearing at that time. It wasn't anything revealing or seductive. She still wore her dark violet ninja pants with her kunai holster equipped to her right thigh but without that gray jacket.

'_Kami-sama, there was a girl underneath that and she was attractive...' _thought the dark shinobi in awe. She was wearing a purple tank-top, her forehead protector on her neck and she also wore a pair of black fingerless gloves. He was pretty sure it eased her pain somewhat when she tried to use the gentle fist on the log Naruto assigned to attack. Naruto grinned to myself when he thought she couldn't have picked a better day to wear less clothing, more of it would be to her disadvantage since the training would be even tougher starting from this point. She obviously blushed when she saw him look at her even though he had his blindfold on.

"What are you looking at, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata as her blush was more visible.

"Nothing," replied the half demon genin lying.

"You don't like what I am wearing?" she asked with a red face. "I could change it..."

"No, don't do that." he said with a chuckle. "I was just thinking you couldn't have picked a better day to wear that thick jacket of yours, that's all." Sakura immediately punched me playfully in the arm while Hinata looked at me with a confused expression. He simply smiled at her innocence.

"What do you mean?"

"Today I would be teaching you new abilities, it would be very draining so there's no need to wear too much."

"What makes you so sure we're ready, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura doubtfully.

"My eyes told me you guys are."

'_His eyes told him?'_ thought Hinata catching every word he said. Then something clicked into both girls' heads at the exact moment, his eyes, they nearly forgot about his eyes. He was also wearing a blindfold, it was the perfect time.

"Naruto-ni-chan, would you tell us something about your eyes?"

"What about my eyes?" he asked rather dumbly on purpose. "Don't think I'm blind just because I am wearing a blindfold."

"If you're not blind, why do you wear one?" questioned Hinata leaning closer to him. "I've seen your pupils turn completely teal... it looked demonic..."

"We are just worried, Naruto-nichan..." said Sakura in a caring tone. "We won't force you to tell us if you don't want to."

"Sure, I'll tell you," said the silver hair boy with a grin. The girls blinked their eyes twice trying to make sure if they heard right, that was the first time they heard the boy agreeing to their terms this sharply. Deep down he knew that he would have to tell them about this ability anyway, he knew he couldn't hide it forever, they had the right to know. Hinata was giving her all her attention and so was Sakura, it was surprising. "About my eyes," he started with a cough. "It's just an advanced bloodline ability." The heiress' eyebrow raised a little bit while Sakura had no idea what he was talking about.

"Advanced bloodline ability?" asked a confused pink hair genin.

"Yes," he explained. "They are a special type of techniques that can be only passed down by blood. Hinata-chan has one too. Her bloodline limit is the Byakugan. Her ability is one that is passed down to people with the Hyuga blood in their veins." Sakura then understood a bit better.

"What's your ability, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata coming even closer to the boy as if her body was reacting on her own.

"It's called the Unholy Sight. Some people would call it Sight of Divinity or Dedication."

"Why do people call it two opposite names?" questioned Sakura a little lost.

"It all depends what people see this eyesight as. You see, my eyes see plenty of things. But the primary focus is to see demons." Hinata's eyes widened a little when she heard the word demons, her curiosity grew. "Enabling to see demons, I use this sight to hunt them down if I see one. Not only that my ability granted my eyes to see this evil, I could read people's thoughts if I want to and I could also detect both chakra capacity and chakra levels from anyone I desire. Finally, I could see through things but it's nothing compared to the Byakugan. When the Byakugan could scout something at the radius of 3 km or more, my eyes could only see things 20 metres closer and maybe a little more."

"That doesn't tell me about the divinity and the unholy part though."

"Of course, like I said before, it's all based on personal opinions. Some people would believe it's divine since it could be used to destroy demons while some will think that the damned and unholy could see their own kind." His tone now was a depressed one. "My clan members are a reckless bunch who took these eyes for granted... what a bunch of fools..." he continued bitterly.

"Naruto-kun..." whispered Hinata holding his hand softly.

"Thanks Hinata-chan..." he said reluctantly removing his hand from hers. To the heiress, it seemed he didn't want to feel her touch at all. However, the most wanted thing right at that moment was the feeling of her soft hands. He felt guilty pushing her away, he had no choice, he couldn't fall in love with Hinata and that was reality. He accepted the fact, but he couldn't risk it.

"Naruto-ni-chan... I'm sorry that people think of your clan like that as unholy people..." said Sakura sadly.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," said the Death Knight putting the best smile on his face. "It really doesn't matter what people think about my clan. All of them are already dead. It's hard to really feel sad for something that you never had or experience before. If these eyes are the only thing that they gave me, I'll make good use of it."

"Naruto-kun..." whispered Hinata trying to hold his hand again. However, the boy pretended he didn't know and stood up so her hand wouldn't brush his. A sudden feeling of sadness rushed onto the Hyuga girl, she felt like crying. When Naruto took a glimpse at her, he knew what he said really didn't satisfy her, he knew she still had a lot of questions in her mind. Moreover, the despair expression certainly didn't make him feel any more relieved. He then took a look at Sakura, her expression wasn't a pleased one either. However, it wasn't Naruto's explanation that upset her, it was what her brother just did. The Death Knight then explained why he wore a blindfold from time to time, he told them it was for training. To be more precise, it was training to have a much clearer vision in seeing both demons and have a more magnified view of things. Sakura was happy to know more about his secrets while the heiress had something deep in her mind that she desperately wanted to ask.

"Do you have a demon within yourself, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata suddenly with a demanding expression in her voice. Even though it was soft, he sensed she wanted a response whether he liked it or not.

"I don't know," answered the Death Knight. He knew he was a good liar, nobody saw through it unless he faked it. "I'll say this... the Uzumaki clan members do seal demons to their children and what not. They do it when they are about 3... but I never had any parents to begin with... I really don't believe that I do." As if he didn't knew, that would be the very last thing he would forget. He couldn't afford to lose both Sakura and especially Hinata at such a vulnerable stage, he knew they weren't ready to accept the truth. He was a Death Knight, a human with demonic corruption, not everyone could just let it pass by casually. The expression on the Hyuga girl's face told him she wanted to know more. However, if he continued, the training would never start. As he changed the subject again, one thing was in the lavender-eyed girl's mind.

'_Naruto-kun... what are you still hiding from me?'_ she kept asking her self. _'You hid something that was your advanced bloodline ability... Am I not worthy of your trust?' _The girl began to feel depressed. _'I trust you with my life, I trust you with everything... why are you still so closed up? Can't you see that I love you?'_

"Hinata-chan," said Naruto snapping his fingers in front of her. "Are you here?" The Hyuga girl suddenly woke up from her thoughts and blushed when she saw her lover right in front of her so unexpectedly.

"I am... sorry," she answered meekly while the boy sighed.

"What kind of techniques will you be teaching us, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura breaking that awkward scenario. That question interested Hinata as well.

"Maneuvering and agility techniques." stated the dark shinobi with a grin. Both the girls' faces darkened a bit, it was obvious why.

"I thought we would be learning some offensive moves, Naruto-kun." said Hinata shyly. She did have a point. Of course, he had his reasons behind it.

"A good ninja is a cunning ninja." Naruto explained justifiably. "A cunning ninja must learn quick movement. Not just quick, but both swiftly and unexpectedly as an element of surprise. This is the first step. However, the first moves you will know from me are both evading techniques." The duo in front of him paid close attention to his words. "I want Hinata-chan to learn Blink while Sakura-chan will learn the evasive move called Phase Shift. Don't worry, I will pass down more offensive techniques later on this week or beginning next week."

"How long will it take us to know it?"

"I'll say around a several days at most, not too long." He then explained what each technique's purpose and effect, they had to know the basics before the real practice began. (AN: If you forgot what these moves do, please read the Jutsu List to check it out.) "You guys can tell these are perfect moves for any assassin."

"Are these the same techniques you used on Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura curiously. He simply nodded.

"Can you demonstrate some of these moves in actual combat, Naruto-kun?" suggested Hinata politely. Once again, she made a very good point.

"Sure," said the silver hair genin in his preferred taijutsu stance. "Come and attack me."

"But... what if I hurt you?" Hinata felt nervous while the boy gave her a warm smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Sakura, watch closely." The last words sounded more of a command but the pink hair girl didn't object, it was for her own good to observe carefully. With Naruto giving her encouragement, Hinata went into her Hyuga stance without hesitation. She suddenly dashed at him with a high agility charge, his eyes widened as her dramatic increase in speed. 'Looks like the 10 day training really paid off,' thought Naruto happily for his friend. He took a step diagonally to avoid her incoming palm but to his surprise Hinata took a small slide to catch up with him. That surprised Naruto indeed, she learned how to fight even more effectively within such a short amount of time. He had no time to think since her attacks came in volleys. He quickly shifted back and forth to dodge all her attacks. If any of those hit him accurately, he knew he would be in deep trouble. Knowing he had to show both moves to them, he decided to announce it.

"Hinata-chan," he called as he tilted his head to avoid another palm strike. "Pay close attention to this." He then gathered chakra throughout his body at an incredible pace as his opponent prepared herself for another attack. As her hand reached close to him, she was surprised that Naruto disappeared for she hit nothing but air. At that next second, Naruto appeared right in front of her gripping her wrist telling her to stop. Sakura was amazed at what she just saw, her face brightened up by a drastic amount. Hinata's eyes twitched, she was stunned. She knew at that moment if that was an actual battle, she would've been killed already, that one second change was all he needed to prepare for his critical attacks. As the Death Knight loosened his grip on her, the Hyuga girl grinned a mischievous grin. She suddenly twisted herself a little bit to give a spin kick to the Death Knight's right waist. However, he quickly formed a seal with one hand (AN: Thanks to a certain someone of course) to make himself vanish making the girl kicking nothing but air. At that instant, she saw Naruto already 10 meters away from her. She knew he used Blink to evade.

"That was amazing, Naruto-kun..." said Hinata timidly with a blushing face.

"Watch this carefully, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan." He then formed the same hand seal quickly in less than a second. In a flash, he was behind the Hyuga girl with his runeblade already at her side ready to cut. Of course, he stopped so no unnecessary damage would be dealt. Both female genins twitched in absolute fear but luckily they calmed down when they didn't sense any killing intent in his actions. "There you have it," he said sliding his blade back into his sheath. "I hope that was a good way to tell you how to use those moves effectively. But there is one thing you should know."

"Whatever could that be?" asked Sakura.

"The speed of forming hand seals," He stated with a smile. "In actual battles, you would need to know how to form seals quickly so your jutsu would be used quicker than your opponent. Trust me, that one second could make a difference. I'll show you." The boy then made the seal of the Kage Bunshin so fast that the girls didn't even catch what he was forming. Being a shinobi for nearly 8 years, he had to have plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

"You don't expect us to form seals that fast do you, Naruto-kun?" questioned Hinata with wide opened eyes.

"No, silly," he answered with a slight laugh. "I would need you to be fast, not that fast yet. It does take practice after all. Anyway, let us train." To the Death Knight's surprise, he found out both of them were talented learners. Their development was definitely a lot quicker than he imagined. Within 2 days, both Hinata and Sakura mastered their attacks and with perfect control. Nowadays, Hinata would use that technique to play tricks on her beloved Naruto-kun while Sakura could only use hers when she had to. With their moves mastered, Naruto felt proud and didn't feel any hesitation to teach them more techniques.

**_(End Flashback, Naruto's POV)_**

The training period lasted until now and it was still going. By the time another 2 weeks to 3 weeks went by, both of them have learned 5 different Hidden Techniques from me. I was shocked to see them improve so much in such a short amount of time. I was proud to be their teacher, I felt that I did a really good job at making them grow. I knew they felt more confident about themselves, I was happy for them, very happy indeed.

Hinata now had the Byakugan, Gentle Fist, Mana Burn, Blink, Fan of Knives, Immolation, Shadow Strike and the passive ability Evasion. (AN: All these are in the Jutsu List, I'll demonstrate these techniques in the Chunnin Exam for certain. If I explained more of the training process, that would be real dull. If you play Warcraft 3, you would know what kind of ninja I made Hinata and Sakura to become. They also know the moves they had in the Anime and Manga) Sakura on the other hand knew the Phase Shift, Mana Flare, Wind Walk, Mirror Image and the passive ability Critical Strike. Both of them have turned into excellent cunning ninjas with a lot of potential that still needed to be unlocked, they really made me proud more than they could imagine.

Aside from just training and missions, I had my life to deal with for the past 5 weeks or so. My relationship with Sakura has been really good. We got to know each other a lot better. We were now like true brother and sister. Nowadays, I could read her looks like a book but unfortunately she didn't have the ability to do that to me yet. It didn't matter though, as long as she felt I was important in her life, I would treat her the same way. If anything happened to Sakura now, I would never forgive myself if I had the power to stop it. She was family to me. After the two girls stopped bickering with another ever since the rivalry ended, they became very close friends. They talked a lot more, joked with another and even teamed up on me from time to time to make my life a little bit more difficult than it should be. I didn't mind too much, I was just glad I had that conflict out of my system. Friends were important, it really changed Hinata by a lot. She was cheerful and smiled a lot more often willingly. It wasn't like she never smiled before, it was just whenever she smiled to another person other than myself, it felt fake. However, little did they know I had another problem rising already.

My problem was Hinata... or rather my problem was myself. Even though I said she smiled genuinely... I still sense a bit of sadness in it. I knew I could heal the sadness if I wanted to, but I refuse to. I knew why, I just ignore it and pretended nothing was going on. Deep down she was depressed, I knew why but I never took action on purpose. She was sad because of me, she was upset because after I accepted Sakura as my sister, I began to avoid her. She still saw me everyday and did stuff together but I knew deep down I needed to get away from it. I enjoyed her company too much, I couldn't allow myself to feel more attracted to her everyday despite how much I wanted to be with her and see her joyful face every morning. Hinata still came to my place a several times each week to have breakfast together and each time she came by, she would be slightly more seductive than the last. There was one time she was so close to me that she nearly kissed me... I was lost in her trance and my body almost acted on its own. I snapped out of it and stopped her from continuing, I could tell she was very upset. I loved her, I didn't want to accept it but I couldn't deny it. Knowing who I was, a half demon and many other secrets that could never be revealed, I need to forget her.

I couldn't allow myself to fall in such a dangerous trap called love, I needed to get away from it. However, she was persistent, she didn't want to make herself disappear from my vision, she always wanted to be by my side. I loved her presence but I decided to ignore it. Not the ignore that I pretended I didn't know what she was doing when I clearly did, but literally ignore her. I no longer reacted to her touch, I even pull myself away from her when I found myself liking the situation too much which was almost immediate. Hinata soon realized what I was doing but didn't know the exact reason for me to do it in the first place. She became depressed and wanted to know more about me so she would understand me better. It wasn't like she didn't understand me, I had to admit she was the best person I know that truly knew who I was besides Jiraiya and Rin. I had to forget her, but seeing her so upset because I am there pained me so much... I didn't want to do this to her but I need to. My fate was sealed ever since my decision in becoming a Death Knight because of my selfish choice in wanting power. This was my curse, my punishment and I have to live the rest of my life carrying this. If I fell in love with Hinata, her life will forever be ruined, I will never forgive myself if that happened.

My actions didn't go unnoticed by Sakura, she knew what I was doing. Sakura was sharp, she knew I had affections for Hinata but I just never admitted it. She had nothing against that, it was my decision but she couldn't understand the fact why I started to avoid Hinata. I knew Hinata had been talking to Sakura ever since they became close friends, I'm sure Sakura knew how she felt. That led back to what happened earlier today, why Sasuke and Sakura were at my door.

**_(Flashback, General POV)_**

"Sasuke, Sakura-chan... what are you guys doing here?" asked a surprised Naruto when he saw who it was at the door of his apartment. "You guys want to come in to have something to drink?"

"No thank you, Naruto," said Sasuke bluntly. "I was wondering if you want to have dinner with us?"

"You guys are together now?" asked Naruto raising an eyebrow.

"No," replied Sakura. "We are just friends..." _'For now!_' shouted Inner Sakura.

"I'm kinda busy right now..." said Naruto obviously lying. "I want to sack up about this time."

"I don't think we are giving you a choice," said Sasuke with a little more force. "You are coming whether you like it or not." Naruto gave a confused look before the two genins dragged him out of his apartment forcefully. Soon, they were at a small restaurant nearby and decided to have a little chat. The looks on Sakura and Sasuke were not a pleased one, Naruto felt a strange uneasiness between him and his friends.

"So, you two told me to come and you just expect me to sit here and have dinner without saying a word?" asked Naruto. "What do you guys want me here for?"

"I'm sure that you know, Naruto," said Sasuke. "Don't tell me that you didn't know."

"You do know Hinata-san has been very upset lately, right, Naruto-nichan?" asked Sakura worriedly.

"Is it any of my business?" questioned Naruto with a small glare while he took a zip of tea.

"What the hell is wrong with you lately, Naruto?" shouted Sasuke not believing what he just heard.

"Don't you care about her?" added Sakura demanding for a response.

"She may be upset, what could I do?" Naruto asked returning the question to them. He wasn't angry with them, he was mad at himself for seeing Hinata so down.

"What do you mean what could you do, Naruto-nichan?" The Death Knight could tell his sister was ticked. "She is upset because of you! You have been ignoring her on purpose! How would you feel if your best friend suddenly just decided to turn away from you? How would you feel? Answer me."

"I would feel happy for them." Stated Naruto. "I would respect their decision."

"Naruto, I don't know why you are doing this to Hinata-san," said Sasuke quite annoyed. "If you have something that you don't want to share, fine with me, but I can't stand it to see Hinata-san so down."

"You two are the best of friends, why do you want to do something now to destroy it now?" asked Sakura.

"You think I want to?" retorted Naruto. "You think I want this to happen?"

"If you don't want this, why did you start this?"

"I have my own reasons... I can't tell you..."

"I have no intention of knowing your reason of doing this," began Sasuke. "But... you really shouldn't avoid her like that, that's not something I thought you would do."

"I don't think any other way would do..." stated the Death Knight sadly.

"Is it because you like Hinata-san?" asked Sakura.

"I told you I don't like her that way... I just like her as a friend..." lied the silver hair boy with guilt. Sasuke and Sakura didn't buy it at all, they knew he was hiding something.

"If you think she is just your best friend," said the Uchiha taking a zip from his tea as well. "You wouldn't treat her this way. If you only thought of her as a friend, you should be treating Sakura the same way as well."

"I don't know how you feel about Hinata-san, Naruto-nichan," said Sakura seriously. "But don't do this to her, it pains her so much to see her best friend no longer the same person without telling her why. Please talk to her... I am begging you."

"I'll consider it." stated Naruto calmly.

"Don't consider," demanded Sasuke. "Do it." The Death Knight relutantly agreed to their demands and soon their meal arrived. Even so, none of them really had the appetite to eat. Instead of wasting the food, they ate but didn't say a word to each other. Silence was a much better company than words. When they finished their meals, Sasuke left immediately since he had a mission to Wave country the next day while Naruto walked Sakura home. By that time, the dark warrior was already exhausted.

**_(End Flashback)_**

The next morning came by quickly as a flash. The Death Knight woke up with a small concussion, he didn't even know why his head hurted this much that morning. He decided to push it aside for now since he had bigger things to deal with. After his daily routines, he had a quick breakfast as he gathered chakra to get his rundblade Nightshadow to his hand. However, he felt a sudden pain in his head as he attempted to generate chakra. He didn't know what was going on, it felt strange but it was familiar somehow. 'I haven't had this feeling for a while... the last time I had it was... like last year...' he thought as he held his head with a bit of trouble.

'You okay, my little dark one?' asked the boy's master who suddenly appeared in his mind.

'Kyubi-chan...' whispered the Death Knight breathing heavily. 'What's happening to me?'

'Relax, Naruto,' she said stroking his back slightly. 'It's just that your corruption has deepened to another level. It'll be okay.'

'You don't mean that...'

'Yes, your body is now able to handle more of my techniques. I allowed this to happen after you learned every technique I could bless you at the moment. I am impressed that you learned Unholy Frenzy, Cripple, Meteor Fall, and Devour Magic in such a short amount of time.' said Kyubi happily and proudly.

'Thanks for your encouragement... Kyubi-chan...' panted Naruto weakly.

'You okay, Death Knight?'

'No... I'm not... how long would this pain end?'

'You need to rest for the day or two, it should be fine tomorrow.' explained Kyubi trying her best to make him feel better.

'I got missions today, Kyubi-chan. I can't just not go because of a mere sickness.'

'Looks like you have to skip today's mission, your health is more important.'

'Fine... I'll listen to your advice...' said Naruto in defeat as he moved his body back to his futon and nearly fell asleep immediately. 'What happens if I'm not there... Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan wouldn't like it though...'

'Worry about yourself a little more than others, Naruto,' said the fox lady a little annoyed at her apprentices persistent attempts. 'You're in no shape to go anywhere right now.'

'And who's fault is it for making my body this weak?' asked the boy giving a glare.

'I'm doing this for your own good, my little dark one. Now, don't think of anything now, just focus on getting better, okay?"

'As if there's anything else for me to do...' he stated in exhausion but before he could finish that sentence he already fell into a deep. Kyubi stroked his cheek a little bit with a smile before leaving his mind. 'You really shouldn't push yourself so much, Naruto...' thought Kyubi with a smile. 'I know you care for the girls but I really don't think you should train so hard until 3 in the morning every night...' With that thought ended, the demon fox then disappeared leaving her apprentice to rest.

**_(Naruto's POV)_**

I had no idea how long I was out for but whe I opened my eyes slightly, I could see three figures standing outside my room in the hallway. It was clear to me that they were chatting. At that time I still had a terrible headache, my body didn't grant me the energy that I required to get up or even the energy I needed to catch their attention. I observed my surroundings, it looked familiar, of course, I was in my room. As I tried to focus at who was outside my room, I realized that it was my team with Kakashi. For once he was doing his job right and not being such a pervert, somehow in my head argued that his presence may not have been for a good cause. I banished that thought immediately and decided to be such a suspicious individual. I glanced over to the girls and they seemed to be guilty of something while Kakashi certainly looked worried. I wanted to listen to what they were talking about or even how they entered my apartment to begin with. I didn't care too much though. Knowing them, I knew they would tell me when I felt better. My body ached every second the moment I was awake, it would be the best for me to fall back asleep.

I woke up suddenly from my sleep that seemed to last only for a several minutes. The reason was that I felt warm, a little too warm. I also felt a sweet, comfortable suction on my neck. It felt really good, that alone could complete my day. I allowed my mind to drift back to sleep but unfortunately my curiosity took the better of me once again. I wanted to know what was keeping me this warm. As I saw navy blue hair when I tilted my head slightly, I clearly knew it was Hinata. Due to my dulled senses, it didn't hit me until 2 seconds later. My eyes widened in shock and fear.

_'Why the heck is she sleeping next to me right now?**'**_ I panicked in my mind. Without further argument, the only possibly was that it was her who was giving me that feeling on my neck, she was kissing it every time she took in a breath. I didn't even know why she was here, what the hell happened while I was asleep? This was such an awkward situation to be in, I was completely lost. I glanced at her again and realized she was under the covers with me sleeping ever so peacefully, I could feel her warm, soft and smooth hand holding mine as she moaned pleasantly. She was in such a delicate and vulnerable situation, I could kiss her and do anything to her.

'_NO!'_ I yelled in my head breaking all inappropriate thoughts. _'I can't do that, I'm not a pervert like Kakashi or Jiraiya! I refuse to allow myself to sink to their level.'_ Even with that thought in my mind, she suddenly did something that made me melt. She unintentionally leaned her head towards mine while mine was quite close to hers. Our lips locked, my eyes widened in surprise and mostly shock. I was glad she didn't seem to realize at the moment, I was saved. However, my signs of relief immediately faded as she opened her eyes. Her eyes widened as well. At this point, I knew I had to get myself out of this situation and I had to do it FAST! I attempted to break away but somehow her hand pulled me back to her without much effort to continue the kiss. She deepened it without a second thought, I could nearly pass out. Moments later, my still stunned body awkwardly broke the lip lock when I had no air left within me, Hinata on the other hand showed disappointment. I immediately sat up with a very hot face since a lot of my blood was rushing to that area. I had to leave, it was too much for me to deal with.

"I... I... I..." I was stuttering on my words horribly. My mouth wasn't even functioning the way I want it to, things couldn't get any better than this. "I am getting hungry... I think I'll go get something to eat." In truth, I was getting hungry but the main reason was to get out of there ASAP obviously. I finished my sentence quickly as I prepared myself for an immediate evac. However, Hinata then embraced me passionately not wanting me to go, not wanting me to leave her alone. As soon as she snuggled her head on my back, my heart suddenly sank.

"Please stay with me, Naruto-kun... please..." she begged as she started to sob on my shoulder. My inner self told me to leave her but my body reacted otherwise once again. The first time was in the park, the second time would be this. I simply hugged her back with the same or more passion that she gave me while my mind was thinking of every possible curse I knew, which was undoubtedly a lot. "You finally hugged me back, Naruto-kun..." she whispered soothingly in my arms. A sudden feel of guilt dwelled within me when she said that, it was true, I haven't hugged her for a long time. I may see her nearly everyday but I truly missed her.

"Don't cry, Hinata-chan..." I told the crying girl in my arms while caressing her back. I had no idea what to do. I looked at the clock next to my futon, it was a little bit past midnight. Then something hit me. "Hinata-chan, why are you still here? It's really late." I asked as politely as possible trying not to pressure her.

"I was worried about you..." she sobbed a bit softer. "Kakashi-sensei told us you had a high fever... he said that your body seemed to be lacking rest for some time."

"Lacking rest?" I asked as she nodded. "You mean about me training every night until 3 in the morning?" She nodded again and began to punch me in the arms. At the current state I was in, every punch seemed to hurt. "What are you doing, Hinata-chan? It hurts you know..."

"You made me so worried, you jerk!" she exclaimed while punching harder on my wasted body. "You didn't show up at the bridge 2 days ago, you didn't even tell me you were sick! When we came to your place and no one answered, I thought you were dead!" I was surprised when I heard I was out for 2 days.

"I'm not dead, Hinata-chan..."

"How would I have known that? Your face was pale and you didn't even wake up until now! How could you not take care of yourself? How could you make me worry like that?" She was in complete control, I didn't have the power to retaliate at all. With my defences collapsed, I just took every blow.

"Hinata-chan..." I said no louder than a whisper. "Why were you sleeping next to me just now?" The in control Hinata suddenly turned back into her old self, timid, shy and began to play with her index fingers again as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Why?" I asked again.

"You... you were looking cold, Naruto-kun..." she explained timidly. "You were shivering when you were asleep... so I wanted to make you feel warm since you were sick. I didn't want you to get cold..." Her words touched me more than she thought it did.

"But knowing that I am ill... what if you got sick too?" I questioned her with concern.

"I think it's worth it to see you better." Hinata replied with a smile. That was the same reason that I did it for. I sacrificed my daytime so I could see their happy faces when they became stronger. Of course, I haven't been doing such a good job at making Hinata smile, I have made her depressed.

"Hinata-chan..." I sighed a little before continuing. "Why do you care so much?" That question alone made her flush a little bit. "Am I someone who deserves this kindness?" She nodded honestly.

"You are, Naruto-kun..." she replied with a sincere face.

"Why?"

"Because... I..." I could tell she was hesitating at what she was going to say. Deep down I got a strong feeling of what she was going to say, I didn't want to hear it. As much as I did, I couldn't bare to hear it.

"Don't say it, Hinata-chan..." I said in a low voice.

"Naruto-kun..." she continued not listening. "I... I..." _'Don't say it...' _I thought praying that she wouldn't say it. _'Hinata-chan, I beg you please don't say it!_' "I love you. I've been in love with you for a long time. Naruto-kun, I am in love with you." She said it.

My face darkened with dread. _'What have I done?'_ I thought with guilt and grimace. _'I've made Hinata-chan fall in love with me... a demon!'_ This was the greatest mistake I've made in my life! I can't love her back, the people would hate her for being with a demon. Her words were stuck in my head, spinning and repeating like a curse in my head every second. More I thought about it, my body seemed to shatter like glass. How could these three words of true passion hurt so much? I can't accept it, I could never accept the fact that she was in love with a demon. As much as I wished this was all just a dream and I can just wake up and never need to think about it again, I knew this was reality. I was trapped, trapped between emotions. After many emotional breakdowns Rin and I experienced, I have never felt this one before, hopeless romance.

"Hinata-chan, I..." I tried to explain myself but she silenced me with a finger on my lips.

"You have the same feelings for me too, Naruto-kun," she said both lovingly and heavenly. "I know you do." Her words struck me like piercing arrows searing through my body. Every thing she said, every word was true. I love Hyuga Hinata, I knew I fell in love with her the first day I returned to Konoha. I never wanted to admit it... no, I didn't want to accept it because of who I am, I thought a person such as myself would have enough self control to know that a demon can never fall in love with a human. I could be friends with one but never love one due to my damned reality. I couldn't accept her love, I really want to take her hand and say the same three words that escaped her lips just now. However, destiny wasn't so kind to me. The curse of the decision was something I must live with, my life belonged to the damned. If I was a Paladin, I would say the three fateful words. But reality will always tell me I am a Death Knight.

"Hinata-chan... you don't understand..." I muttered in a low voice not using the three words. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her but there was no way I could. I wanted to embrace her after her confession. I wanted to tell her too. However, remembering what I am brought me to the same conclusion.

"I've hid my true feelings from you for all this time," she said with tears. "I love you with all my heart, the day we reunited at the park... I knew I loved you. You have been so close to me that it pains me not to see you. You've taught me so much, I've known you for as long as I could remember... I trust you with my life. You are my inspiration of my life, Naruto-kun... I know you love me too, like you... my eyes can see that too... Naruto-kun, I don't care if you are flattering me or you really mean it... can you say I love you?" Every word shot through my corrupted heart, her words meant so much that I couldn't use words to express. At that moment, I truly wanted to say I love you to Hinata and it wouldn't be just a mere flatter. Instead, my face darkened.

"Hinata-chan, you can't love me..." I muttered coldly breaking the embrace forcefully. The girl looked at me blankly. "I'm not worthy of your love."

"Yes you are, Naruto-kun!" she said with passion. "Don't ever say that."

"I'm only speaking the truth." I continued sadly.

"What are you saying?" she asked trying her best to hide her pain from me.

"There is no such thing that you can't live in this world without someone else," I said emotionlessly. "I can, so can you."

"Naruto-kun... do you mean that?" she asked me with hidden sadness. I knew she couldn't believe what I just said. I simply nodded without meeting her eyes.

"Yes." I replied with much emotional pain throughout my body. "I have to go..." I started to get up and leave but she held my arm tightly not allowing me to go. What made her want me so much? "Hinata-chan, let go." She shook her head violently which made me feel another deal of pain.

"I won't let go... I can't lose you! Why won't you admit it?"

"What is there to admit?" I spat back bitterly. "I adore you more than you can ever imagine... fate has just never given me a chance to feel the same way..." Believe me, I hated my destiny, the Death Knight has caused me nothing but pain. No matter how many times I comforted Kyubi, no matter how many times I justified how great a Death Knight would be, when it came to love, your chance is absolutely nothing. Paladins were humans, Death Knights are demonic, that was the hard truth of reality, my damned destiny.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Forget about me." I stated as a demand. "Find someone worthy of your love." However, Hinata then hugged me tightly making my heart melt.

"The person I love is you, you will be the only person I will ever love... please don't run away from me... are you willing to let me go?" I could never let her go, I want her to be by my side until the day I die. I do love her.

"Hinata-chan, listen to me," I broke the hug and looked into her pearl like eyes, they were beautiful. "You'll regret the day you love me, you'll regret the day I love you in return. The villagers will hate you, they'll despise you and reject you like they rejected me. Your family would never see you the same way. You'll be living a life of eternal darkness..." 'Like me...' he added in thought bitterly.

"I don't care what the other people think!" shouted Hinata. "I'm willing to sacrifice anything to be with you. You are better than life itself, I'll never give up, I'll find happiness with you, I know I will."

"Don't be so naïve, Hinata-chan," I said. I loved Hinata for being so faithful. I didn't know how she knew I loved her, were my actions that obvious? I never did anything over the boundaries, I always remained neutral. I'm sure Hinata knew me too well, she knew what kind of actions were my signs of love even though I want to express it to her like a human being would. "You can't love a Death Knight, Hinata-chan."

"Yes I could, Naruto-kun."

"No you can't, the Death Knight isn't what you think it is. You think it's just a knight who obeys his master because they grant them power? I'll tell you, that's only half true. The reason Death Knights came to be is because they were too weak to fight the demon within themselves. A lot of members in my clan became these traitorous warriors, when you get infleuenced by your demon, it will tempt you into giving you power. In exchange is a very high price of your mind and forever loyalty. Death Knights are half demons, half humans..."

"You have a demon within yourself, Naruto-kun?" she asked not showing fear, but concern.

"Yeah..." I answered with a dark face of sadness.

"Who is it?"

"The demon fox Kyubi who attacked Konoha nearly 13 years ago. My father, the 4th Hokage wasn't able to destroy it. Rumours have been passed down to the children that the damned demon was killed. It was made law by the 3rd that no one would tell the children who the demon was. As you can see, the adults who survived the great battle 12 years ago clearly know that the beast was alive, it was alive deep within me. I'm sorry that I lied earlier but you should know that the 4th died sealing the demon, yes, I was born with the Kyubi. That's the reason why everyone hated me, why I had no friends, why parents refused to allow their children to even come near me. They feared the demon and never bothered trying to see the boy who was bleeding inside. It was clear to me why the villagers revolted one night, their reason was Kyubi. If I die, Kyubi, my master will die with me, they could care less of a little boy with nobody in life, ending his life wouldn't be much of a problem. They feared I would let Kyubi loose, they wanted me dead. I was pursuited to death for something beyond my power to stop, for something I never wanted. Old man Hokage always reminded me that the 4th wanted me to be Konoha's hero and I always will be. Despite how much I want to believe that, that wasn't what the villagers believed, they believed that the 4th gave the demon another chance of life. The Uzumaki's key specialty is to seal demons, you know that?" Hinata nodded paying very close attention to what I had to say. "Knowing such a powerful demon living in such a small boy without the parent's guidance, all the villagers thought I would become one of them, they were afraid of it."

"What were they afraid of?" she asked me with her voice trembling a bit. I finally looked at her closely, she looked shocked at what she just heard but I could tell she wasn't scared. I wondered why.

"Death Knights," I answered with a flash of my teal eyes. "Hinata-chan, no demon or human would like to be used as a backup tool in life. The fact is that the demon is sealed within a Uzumaki member like a prisoner, it would always want out. Knowing the demonic seal can't be broken that easily, taking control of the human's body was the perfect solution. It made no difference for the demon, they would still have their abilities but just in a different form. Of course, the beast would make offers such as power to tempt the human. In exchange, their loyalty is theirs."

"What kind of loyalty?"

"They want you to be their servant forever." I stated bluntly.

"What if you refuse their demands?" asked Hinata wanting to know more.

"You won't, Hinata-chan. At that time, your mind would belong to the demon. Yes, you still control your body but your values and morals would be identical to the demon's. Paladins were sent to hunt down these Death Knights and none of them came back alive. Death Knights aren't that hard to recognize, Hinata-chan, their demonic corruption turns their hair silver, lifeless skin colour and dark vampuric runeblades that are enhanced with dark hidden magics. I am a Death Knight who possesses one of the most powerful demons within. The admirable Naruto to you had fallen to the demon's temptations at the age of 6. Kyubi wanted me to be her successor. I accepted this change willingly, I've become what my father hated most, I've become what the village feared most, a powerful Death Knight. The village hates me, they will hate you too..."

"I don't hate you, Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she cupped my cheeks with her soft, gentle hands. "I'll never hate you..."

"You will sooner or later," I returned her kind words with my cursing ones. "I'm a demon, I'm a monstrosity! I made you fall in love with a demon, the demon everyone despise! I..." She then embraced me again making me stop completely.

"Is it so hard to love me?" she asked nearly crying.

"If I'm a demon, I can't allow my feelings to ruin your life..." I answered not looking into her eyes since I was at the stage of trying to control my own emotions.

"You're not a demon, Naruto-kun," she told me kindly as if she understood me completely. Forget the as if, she did understand me completely. I looked at her watery pearl eyes, it looked like they were sparkling, it was beautiful. "Why are you saying these things? You're loving, caring, encouraging, sincere, determined, strong, supportive, considerate, understanding... there are so many good qualities about you that I could talk about it all night. If you are a true evil Death Knight, you would've never taught me the Mana Burn or the other stuff that you taught me and Sakura-san. You would've never considered being friends with me or Sakura-san if you were evil. Why aren't you a missing-nin and serve your master then? That's because you are Naruto-kun, you aren't a tool that is just used for a mass destruction. Even if you are a demon, you are a demon I love, I will love you always." She then buried her face in my chest still in a passionate embrace. "I love you, Naruto-kun, I want you to know you are worthy of my love, you will always be Naruto-kun in my eyes..." I felt like crying at the spot, her words completely destroyed my cold shell.

"You don't regret loving a cursed person?" I asked holding her close.

"I think you are wonderful, Naruto-kun..." she replied slightly seductively. Then I had to smack myself mentally, how could I have been foolish not to accept her love when she was true, wholehearted, sincere and faithful. Hinata loved me with all her heart and yet I failed to see that she would never leave my side whether I was a demon or human. It was all because of my foolish self pity. It was time to set things right.

"Hinata-chan, I think there is something you want to hear," I whispered in her ear since she was so close. "I love you." I finally said it, I knew she was the girl for me. Tears began to flow freely on her face as she tightened the passionate embrace we were still in. This time, I didn't hesitate to hug her back with equal emotion.

"I wanted to hear that for so long..." I smiled at her genuinely and attempted to kiss her forehead. However, she didn't want me to do that, she allowed her lips to brush onto mine. My eyes widened since I was too lost in my own thoughts, I couldn't believe I accidentally kissed her on the lips again. In reality, it was Hinata who took on the initiative when I thought I was making a hasty decision. She was enjoying that kiss, she pushed herself towards me to deepen it. She was leading this obviously, I was too shocked to do anything other than to enjoy it, she then put her hand on my cheek to make the kiss more passionate.

I found myself lying on my futon with her on top of me somehow, Hinata's lips were still on mine kissing me ever so smoothly and sweetly. She took complete advantage of this situation knowing she waas in control. I had a strange feeling as if she did this plenty of times in the course of her life. I didn't care, all I wanted was her. However, my eyes shot wide open when I felt her tongue licking my lips desperately wanting entry to my mouth. Her eyes opened and pierced into mine with a demanding declaration. She wanted more, she loved this moment as if it was better than life itself. I reluctantly allowed her tongue since I still didn't know what to do, I know I loved her but I was never trained to deal with this. When I found out what her tongue was doing in my mouth, one thought was in my head, I could get used to this. I then put my hands on her firm yet narrow waist and pulled her closer to myself as I miraculously got back up into a sitting position.

This time, I needed to scout around. Her eyes opened with surprise as she felt my tongue brushing her lips slightly, her eyes told me she was satisfied by my action. What surprised me was that she allowed my tongue to enter freely, of course I'm not going to refuse such an offer. Her mouth was sweet, it was definitely the best thing I ever tasted. It was better than her cooking, better than ramen and nothing else could even compare. She moaned pleasantly into my mouth which made me felt like I could kiss her even more passionately. As I kept going, she skillfully pushed herself to me again to get onto top of me giving the most passion and love she could possibly offer at that instant. I loved her and she loved me. At that moment, I felt everything in the world was beautiful, I have Hinata... the best girl I could ever dream of was in my arms, she would never abandon me, she was mine. With that in my head, I could never stop loving her. When she found herself on top of me again, all we could do was to embrace passionately into the night.

**AN: OKAY, this was amazingly long! I should really just stick with 7000- 8000 words... not 10000! Eventually, I am going to die because typing. Don't worry, I'll still be alive somehow. If you think that romance was a little short... trust me there will be more where that came from (Tries very hard not to think of anything bad!) I will apologize again if there wasn't enough action. If you have any questions you want to ask since I might not have explained some of the parts too well, please feel free to ask because I want to make things clear as well. I rushed this chapter somewhat but not a whole great deal. I was surprised I actually wrote this in 2 days, I thought I would take at least 3. By the looks of this, I think I would need one more chapter before I could make it into the Chunnin Exams. There are 2 authors that I have to thank: DreamWalker 3 and Crimson-Strike. Guys, you story and encouragement really made this story that much better. Hope you all will wait patiently for the next chapter, I am quite worn out... MEDIC! I need a medic!**


	9. Mission Tension

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_**Chapter 9: Mission Tension**_

Disclaimer: I am getting bored of this… I don't own Naruto or Warcraft 3. Not now, not ever… if I did now, I wouldn't be so poor now would I?

"…": Speech

'…': Thoughts or conversation in the mind, you'll know the difference

: Scene Change

_**AN: Thank you all so much for your honest reviews! Some were positive, some were negative… I could care less when calculus is haunting me like a ghost who received an improper death in the past. I'm not going to say too much right now… I am so tired from video games last night and I still am… I know many of you have questions, so what I decided to do is another short Question and Answer period so you people won't continue to ask more and more of the same questions, okay? Here goes!**_

**_1Q: When will there be more action?_**

_1A: In this chapter, there will be scenes of action and a hell lot more in the chunnin exam. One very kind author reminded me that a shinobi's life isn't all romance. Well, I never intended to be all love and whatnot but sorry to disappoint some action fanatics out there. It's just I wasn't much of an action fan. I'll apologize. (It will be tough writing good action… hope you all will hang in tight with me!)_

**_2Q: Will there be a chunnin exam?_**

**_2A: I SERIOUSLY didn't expect someone actually asked that! Hell, yes there will be a Chunnin exam! THE MORAL again, PLEASE READ MY SIDENOTES I ALWAYS WRITE!_**

**_3Q: Why did I end the love triangle so early?_**

_3A: To be very honest, I was running low on ideas and knowing how much the girls liked him… he could avoid them at times, not forever. By the way I wrote this… the girls were very persistent that ending it before things got too rough was a better idea. I need them to work well together in the exam after all._

**_4Q: Is my fic too Warcraft-ish? Why aren't I searching for Japanese names for the attacks?_**

_4A: To whoever asked me this question, I think the Japanese name part of your request is something that can never be done. I already am tight on schedule since fan fiction isn't my top priority, calculus is. I'm already using up all the freetime I could to write, I really have no time to search for Japanese names. IF I add no-jutsu on Warcraft techniques… being a person who played WC3 for so long… it sounds kinda weird… if you know what I mean._

**_5Q: Are my stuff on my profile apply to anyone on this site?_**

_5A: Seriously, the answer is no. I don't know any of you, I haven't seen any of you in real person. The stuff I could apply to people I know in real life, the people I work with in school or in a workplace. To any of you who think I post something on my profile because you think I am pissed at you or making fun of you or anything like that, don't think that way. I have nothing against any of you unless you deliberately want to insult me for any reason. So once again, I have nothing against any of you people, I am just glad you like my story. Thank you all for your loyal support._

**_6Q: Are my characters too out of character?_**

_6A: This is an alter-life story, I have the complete power to make them a bit out of character. I may be following the storyline of the manga but THIS ISN'T the manga. If I made the characters and story exactly like the manga, I got a better idea, why don't you just read the manga and save myself from a lot of trouble. Maybe I should start posting the official manga up here and call it something else and seriously get sued! The reason I am making this fic is so I want to experience the Naruto characters' other selves, I want to make their inner feelings truly out. If I seriously sticked them with their 100 usual selves, my story wouldn't get that far._

**AN: I wasted enough time explaining, let's get this thing started! Man, I need a medic and fast… (Coughs and vomits blood due to a lot of health problems) NO, I don't do drugs or alcohol or anything like that!**

Naruto woke up the next morning aching all over, it wasn't much of a surprise due to the position he had been sleeping the entire night. He tried getting up but it just didn't feel right. He was warm all over and couldn't seem to get himself up at all, something was weighing him down. He then tilted his head to make sure his concussion was truly gone, luckily it did. As he glanced a little lower, he found out what was weighing him down when he saw a sleeping blue hair beauty was resting on top of him.

She was pleasantly moaning his name from time to time. Hinata was like an angel who was blessed from the heavens, the Death Knight for once sensed a feeling of fulfillment in his spirit, andit was finally complete. Even though he felt that way, he needed to get himself out of this situation without waking her up. It would be cruel if she opened her eyes due to his awkward behaviour. He lifted her body gently with one hand to give himself a bit of room to slide out. As he made his way out beneath her, he rested her softly back on the futon and covered her with a blanket so she wouldn't catch a cold.

After Naruto did his daily routines, some thoughts struck his mind as he came out of the bathroom.

_'Would anyone would be suspicious of what happened last night?'_ he asked himself with a lot of worries. _'Hinata-chan didn't go home last night, would her family be worried about her? Not to mention we slept together… I know we didn't make love and all but what if someone does ask? What am I going to say? I can't just say that we were simply hugging each other and…'_ He then felt his face turn a little warm at his next thought. _'Kissing each other like frenching the entire night… what if Hinata-chan got pregnant? I can never forgive myself if that happened…'_

The dark warriorquickly banished those thoughts out of his system, he would talk to Hinata when she woke up. All he could do nowwas to pray thatnobody noticed what they did last night. The Death Knight swiftly entered his room with the sleeping Hyuga girl inside,and changed into another set of dark clothing. All he had were either indigo, black, blue, gray or white; he didn't have much of a choice. He wore the usual set of clothes but this time with an indigo jacket. As he tied both his blindfold and forehead protector on his head, he decided to order breakfast from Ichikaru's ramen since it was the only place the dark shinobi could think of that was opened at 8 in the morning.

Within 10 minutes, Naruto came back with two bowls of ramen in his hands. It was very quick since he knew Blink; no traveling time required luckily. He placed two bowls on the table, he knew that was a good time to wake his 'girlfriend' up. He made his way to his room once again, and kneeled next to the beautiful Hyuga heiress rubbing her back gently, and then felt her soft and warm cheek. Without knowing, he was staring at her with lustful eyes.

_'What am I doing?'_ thought Naruto cursing himself shaking his head violently with frustration. _'I am here to wake her up, not to admire her body! I have to focus on the task ahead of me…'_

"Hinata-chan," called Naruto shaking her softly not really wanting to disturb her from her sleep. Deep down himself, he wanted her very much. His eyes were filled with this unexplainable dissatisfaction, and undoubtedly he was irritated at himself.

"Naruto-kun…" she murmured as she held his hand not knowingly. She suddenly then took her hand away and hugged the pillow while whispering his name pleasantly. The Death Knight sighed slightly at the cute scene displayed in front of him.

_'How can I wake up a cute girl like that…'_ thought Naruto with a bit of difficulty. He knew if he didn't wake her up, the food would get cold so he decided to stick with the alternate plan. He gave a gentle kiss on the cheek. She blushed as she opened her eyes just to see him a foot away from her.

"Yo," said Naruto giving her a small wave. "I was wondering when you would wake up." He then laughed at the dumbfounded look on his girlfriend's face. It was something hilarious.

"How long have you been awake for?" asked Hinata rubbing her eyes from the sleepiness she still had.

"Only half an hour at most," he answered with a smile. "I brought breakfast just now, you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am…" she replied with a grin.

"C'mon, we should eat now." As he prepared himself to leave the room, he was stopped when he felt the girl's hand holding his wrist telling him to stay. "Hinata-chan, if we stay here we can't eat…"

"I'm not hungry for that," she said leaning to him with a seductive look. His eyes shot wide open when he felt Hinata's lips already claiming his into a wild kiss. She didn't waste anytime to allow her tongue to demand entrance into his, she wanted him badly. The boy gasped and broke the kiss awkwardly since he wasn't prepared at all. He looked into her eyes, the expressions she gave were unsatisfied and mostly hunger. Not hunger for food, it was obviously hunger for him. Naruto knew he was the only thing in this world that could satisfy it, her demanding eyes told him all he needed. He wasn't one to disappoint her, and he didn't when she flashed him a lusty grin. He returned it with an evil one and kissed her passionately.

_'Damn, she was a good kisser…'_ he thought trying hard not to moan when the girl was moaning freely._ 'I wonder when she learned how to kiss like that…'_ He then decided to shut that away and enjoyed every bit of her. It was clear to anyone Hinata wasn't one to discard such a chance, she never will and she wouldn't start now. She took advantage of the situation again and pushed him onto the futon making herself on top of him again so she could deepen the kiss. In fact, she pushed herself so much, Naruto could feel all of her especially her chest area. He blushed slightly when he felt something very soft since she was only wearing a tank top. The thin layer of clothing wasn't the best thing to shield that specific area. He was going to lose it if he felt it any longer so he made a small maneuver and for the first time he was on top of her. He gave her a wolfish smile before he went back to what he was doing. Soon, breakfast was completely forgotten.

**_(Later that day)_**

The newly couple arrived at the waiting spot around 15 minutes after the expected time. They weren't surprised that Sakura was already there, she was always the one with very good punctuality unlike some other people -mainly Kakashi. Hinata smiled when she saw Sakura while Naruto was currently reading his novel while walking.

For once, Hinata wanted Naruto to pay more attention to her instead of a book.

"Good morning, Sakura-san!" greeted Hinata with her usual cheerfulness in her voice. Sakura hadn't heard that happy expression for a long time, the pink hair girl couldn't help but smile back delightedly.

"Hinata-san," called Sakura waving at her close friend, "I haven't seen you so happy for a long time! What happened last night? What did Naruto-ni-chan say to you?"

"We confessed…" replied Hinata while blushing and looking at the ground.

"I knew he loved you from the start!"

"Yeah… I knew that too…"

"Is that all? Did you two kiss or anything?" asked a persistent Sakura energetically.

"Well… we… we…" It was clear thatHinata was too embarrassed to tell her friend. "Naruto-kun, do you mind telling her what happened?"

"You were doing a good job at it," replied the Death Knight leaning on the railing whilecovering his face with his novel. "I think you should continue it." In truth, he was too embarrassed himself to bring up that topic. It wasn't everydaythat someonecould just shamelessly admittheir private life.

"Did you guys do it?" questioned Sakura teasingly. However, it didn't seem like a joke to Hinata while Naruto pretended he didn't hear her, the Death Knight knew his sister was just being mean.

"I would never do such a vulgar thing with Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Hinata with a very flushed face. Naruto just laughed behind his book while Sakura was taken aback at that sudden outburst.

"Don't tease Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan," said Naruto finally lowering his book to reveal his blindfolded eyes. "You know Hinata-chan can be very sensitive when it comes to these things."

"I was just teasing her as a joke, Naruto-ni-chan..." However, Sakura stopped what she was doing when she saw his serious face. He wasn't in a mood to joke anymore, he was worried about something else. "Is something wrong, Naruto-nichan?" Sakura asked in a concerned voice.

"Are you upset of what we did last night, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata timidly holding his hand.

"No, that's not it…" he answered trying to makehis best smile. "I sense something… elusive… I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"What's the something that you are worried about?"

"I sense a familiar chakra signature outside the village around 2 days worth of travel…"

"You can sense something that is that far away?" asked a surprised Sakura.

"Usually I can't… but the chakra signature is very high… higher than Kakashi's… I sensed this before but I can't tell who it is…"

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun," saidthe Hyuga heiressgiving him a peck on the cheek. "I'm sure you will remember soon enough."

"Let's hope so…" he said with a sigh while holding Hinata's hand softly. "Now, where the hell is that bastard Kakashi anyway? Don't tell me that he's at the women's bathhouse with Jiraiya-sensei…" As if on cue, Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke on the railing in front of them. The three genins looked at him with an empty stare. Rather, they were quite stunned at his appearance.

"Good morning you three," said the masked jounin thinking of another poor excuse at the back of his mind. "I…"

"Who are you?" questionedthe pink haired girlinterrupting him without a second thought.

"Why… I am Kakashi…"

"No, you're not," cutted Hinata quickly. "Kakashi never arrives only 20 minutes late." Naruto chuckled while the jounin raised his eyebrow a little bit. The girls looked at another and gave a small nod, this didn't go unnoticed by the Death Knight.

"You must be an imposter!" shouted Sakura pointing at her instructor. "ATTACK!" Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock as his female students charged at him at incredibly high speed. The dark shinobi was already bursting into laugher at this point as a Mana Burn struck Kakashi in the gut zapping a chunk of his chakra. Sakura then made a powerful karate chop right at his neck sending him flying across the bridge. That must've hurt, as Naruto wouldjustify, but he was too amused to do anything to stop it.

The Death Knight was wondering why Kakashi didn't attack back, maybe he was thinking of something too perverted to focus. However, as much as Naruto wanted to see his current instructor suffer to a great depth, he couldn't allow his best friend and girlfriend destroy the information provider before the info was distributed. In other words, get rid of the trash after the gold was retrieved. He hesitantly grabbed both their wrists before any more critical damage was dealt. Sakura pouted cutelywhere asHinata gave her best puppy face with sparkling eyes. He knew what they were trying to do, he simply sighed and ignored it.

"Kakashi," called Naruto pretending to make a cough. "This is the first time you have been late this early…"

"There's a first time for everything… right?" said the gray hair man with a nervous laugh.

"Has it occurred to you that you could be exactly on time?"

"There were times that I was punctual."

"Like when?" questioned the girls in unison while Naruto gave him a unconvinced smirk.

"6 years ago." The three genins fell back anime style while Kakashi gave out a small chuckle.

"Kakashi…" muttered Naruto getting back up. "You're hopeless…"

_**(15 minutes later)**_

"Ah, Team 7," greeted the Third in his office preparing the mission information, "It's good to see you."

"Likewise, Hokage-sama…" replied Naruto feeling kind of edgy from the chakra signature he still sensed. "What kind of missions do you have for us today?"

"Direct and straight to the point, I like that." The team just grinned at the old man's bluntness as he searched for his files. "Let's see now… Team 7… your mission today will be to search for a lost…" Before he finished he was interrupted by someone no other than Haruno Sakura.

"Another lame mission? NO THANK YOU!" shouted the pink hair girl at the top of her lungs.

_'Sakura-chan?'_ thought Naruto as a cold sweat came down his forehead. She had a lot of guts to challenge the Hokage with such behaviour, he would give her that much to the very least.

"Hokage-sama, it has been 6 weeks, nearly 7 weeks that we became genins. For this time, we have done nothing but mowing lawns, taking out garbage, cleaning trash, walking other people's dogs, babysitting babies and children, watching other people's shops so that they could play mahjong when we could be doing something that we want! Why are they playing damn mahjong when we could be gambling despite thatit's illegal for us? I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

"Sakura-san is right," added Hinata supporting her best friend. "This is utterly bogus. As female shinobis of the Leaf, we are just like the guys. We can take on new challenges. There's only so much we could tolerate." The heiress' voice was still soft but the Death Knight could sense the frustration and irritation in her words.

_'I was wondering when they would complain.'_ thought the Death Knight smiling inwardly. At the same time, a large amount of fear was present in his heart.

"So far we have only done 4 C rank missions while other teams have completed at least 8."

"So, you want a harder mission?'offered the 3rd looking at them intently. The three nooded. "I would give one to you but the lady insisted that Team 7 should do this task for her. She believes that your team is the best for the job."

"So there will be no C missions today?" asked Hinata while the 3rd shook his head. However, something kind of troubled Naruto, it was something the Hokage just said.

"By the way you explained it, Hokage-sama," began Naruto being observant. "This lady seems to know us…"

"Take a look at the mission briefings." The old man then handed the folder to Naruto. As the three read their file, they couldn't stop themselves from lowering their eyes in exhaustion. The Hokage knew that he wouldn't like the response from the three.

"This is the same cat that ran away three days ago!" shouted Sakura in disbelief.

"It ran away again?" added Hinata with frustration.

"This is the 5th time that it has happened!" said Naruto flashing a death glare.

"Yes, yes, I know…" said the old man with a nervous chuckle, "Just finish this mission for the sake for Konoha." The trio groaned in annoyance and made their way to look for the missing cat for the sixth time. Kakashi knew his students were pissed off beyond all recognition. These days, all three of them would be very silent and have a cold expression on their faces when they were in a bad mood, the girls were very similar to Naruto. The jounin knew keeping his mouth shut was the best idea at the time being.

_**(Days go by)**_

It hads been another 3 days, and Team 7 was bored out of their mind. They had another 2 C missions that weren't all out interesting. They just had a case of robbers and gangs that disturbed the town's safety and privacy. It wasn't anything that the Death Knight couldn't deal with. To make sure any of these missions wouldn't happen again, Team 7 made sure none of them saw broad daylight again. Yes, they made them suffer, it had been a long time that they had some action. To make it more specific, they were brutally killed.

Hinata had been hanging with Naruto like a puppy ever since they were together, and the Death Knight didn't mind her company for he knew how much she loved his presence. Hinata had been a little seductive lately, he noticed her ambitions and teased her often. Clearly, her efforts weren't working that well. Unfortunately, that just made Hinata work even harder to catch his attention.

Sakura had been quite worried about her new friend Sasuke. Ever since her rivalry with Hinata ended, they became much closer friends, and her sudden change in maturity had caught the Uchiha's attention. They soon became friends, yethis mission worried the pink hair genin, but shechose not toadmit it in front of him. She wanted to have faith in her new friend, just like how she always had faith in Naruto.

The Death Knight on the other hand had been activating his bloodline admit for the past couple of days to sense the chakra level he picked up for the past couple of days. When he was free, he would go to the highest peaks in Konoha and meditate to practice his vision. The magnifying has improved to 50 meters due to these intense use of his eyes, it was also a good sign that his senses has sharpened. In these high areas, he would sense what he needed to sense in a much clearer way since there are no disruptions. His instincts proved him right very soon when the high level chakra was arriving towards Konoha, and the Death Knight opened his eyes and headed towards wherever that signature was coming from.

Hinata saw his sudden departure and quickly teleported after him while Sakura increased her movement using Wind Walk. Team 7 quickly went through the streets of Konoha in an amazing pace that the townspeople felt a breeze went by them. As the trio made it to the North Gate, there were two Anbu guards on the lookout. By their higher position, it seemed that they could see some people were approaching.

"Hey," called Naruto to one of the guards. The Anbus looked at the boy suspiciously at first, but when they lowered and saw his runeblade, they twitchedwith fear. Sakura couldn't understand why the guards were so tense all of a sudden but Hinataclearly knewthe reason; they were afraid of Naruto due to his demonic blood.

"We don't need to answer you, little boy," spatted the Anbu with a fox mask

"You should go back to where you belong," added the other with a wolf mask. It was clear that their eyes were as cold as ice at the moment. With Naruto's Unholy Sight activated, they couldn't hide anything with just a simple mask.

"I want you two to tell me who is coming to this gate," said Naruto as kind as he could. "I don't want to cause any trouble." Hinata narrowed her eyes at the two guards whilegathering chakra into her lavender eyes, and preparing for her Byakugan. Sakura noticed the coldness in the two Anbu's voices, she knew something wasdefinitelywrong.

"We won't tell you anything, go home."

"You guys should be doing your jobs by telling me who are coming to Konoha. Don't make me repeat myself, little human."

"We don't need you to tell us how to do our jobs," spat the wolf guard. Naruto smirked as the two jumped off their posts engaging a battle with the Death Knight. Sakura and Hinata both jumped away from the leader from their group and allowed him to handle the jounin level ninjas. The Fox Anbu then took out his katana while the other one approached him with a glaive. The dark shinobi gave a grin as their attacks came. He suddenly disappeared leaving a confused look on the older shinobis.

"Where did he go?" asked the wolf Anbu.

"I don't know…" replied his partner with the fox mask.

"I'm here fools." called a freezing voice from behind them. The two Anbus stood dumbfounded when they found the 'blind' shinobi standing pointing his vampuric runeblade at them charging with a deathly green chakra. The two jounins twitched in anger and dashed towards the Death Knight preparing more attacks. As the glaive came, Naruto held his weapon in a defensive position and blocked the attack completely. The fox Anbu seized this chance to attack the lower areas. With a small shift, the blade whizzed by Naruto's body without leaving a cut. Believing it was an opening, the wolf Anbu raised his glaive into another striking position and prepared himself to make a critical hit. The silver hair genin gave a evil grin as he slid backwards a little bit to evade the attack completely while the glaive struck the ground heavily causing a deep dent.

"He's fast!" shouted the wolf Anbu as he lifted his weapon as quick as he could. However, the Death Knight had enough games with these two, he came to figure out who was outside the village, not to bicker with these fools. Without much effort, he raised his leg and kicked the glaive out of the user's hands. The weapon snapped in half while spinning in mid air while the fox Anbu decided to strike the boy from behind. Naruto didn't forget the other one when he elbowed him right at the gut cracking his chest armor.

The wounded specialist shinobi vomited blood due to the heavy hit he received beneath his mask but the Death Knight's attacks didn't end there. With a small maneuver, Naruto went behind him and pinned him to the ground with a foot stepping on his spine heavily while the Anbu's left hand was held in a nearly breaking situation. The wolf masked jounin cold sweated when he realized they already lost in such a short amount of time.

"You know…" began Naruto casually still locking one of the Anbus in a death like situation. Then he flashed a furious glare. "You have EXACTLY 5 seconds to tell me who is coming towards Konoha before I break your friend's arm!" Knowing defeat, the wolf Anbu quickly jumped back to his post to see who was actually there. He hated to lose but he had no choice.

"There is a female jounin with her team of 3 male genins…" said the unpinned Anbu. "They seem to have another shinobi unconscious with them…" When he turned his head around to look at the Death Knight again, his eyes widened in fear when he saw what the dark shinobi was doing. The girls seemed to have a very satisfied grin on their faces when they observed Naruto, that freaked out the wolf Anbu even more. Suddenly, a forceful crack of bones was made and the fox Anbu couldn't do a single thing to make a difference but scream in torment. The other Anbu fell on his knees completely stunned at what he just witnessed. "Why…" was all he could muster.

"I'm sorry," said Naruto releasing the lifeless human who was still yelling in pain and revealed his cold teal eyes. "You took 6 seconds to tell me, how do you feel right now about your friend?" The specialist was still in emotional shock… words couldn't even come out of his mouth.

"Why… why did you do that for?" shouted the Anbu angrily.

"I said you have 5 seconds, you took 6, little human." replied Naruto with a smirk. "It was you who caused your friend to have a crippled arm." The Anbu twitched violently in fear. "I wonder if you're gonna regret it if your friend's arm would never heal. By the looks of it, it looks like it really wouldn't." The Death Knight gave a snicker.

"If you wanted me to give you an answer… why did you have to break my friend's arm!"

"When you two started to attack me, you should've expected I would do this, ne? You two think you are so great because you are Anbus, that's why I want you two to suffer the feeling of powerlessness."

"How dare you…"

"You know," continued Naruto coldly. "He suffered like this and it was all because of you. If you had listened to me a little earlier, this would've never happened. I wonder what the Hokage would do when he found out that you broke the law into fighting me. Not only that, you caused your teammate to experience a fate like this." Naruto then chuckled evilly. "You do know your actions just know could get you executed…"

"I caused my partner to turn out like this…" whispered the wolf anbu to himself. He then pictured his ally's expression when his arm was forcefully broken, he winced at the scene. "I'll be executed because I broke the law and fought the demon boy…" A sudden view of his painful death suddenly flashed in his head, a terror sweat then came down from his head and dripped to the ground.

"If you want to apologize, you should apologize to your friend and Konoha directly using your life…" Somehow, the Anbu then slowly reached for his kunai on his right leg and pointed it to his head with a fearful look. Naruto's cold voice continued his work. "Other than death, there's no other decision for you. That's unless you want to live a life of both fear and regret of a missing-nin. Can you do that? Really, can you? So your only path is death. If you decide to suicide, at least show a bit of guilt before you end it. C'mon, what more is there to think about?" The Anbu then raised his kunai high and aimed it to his head ready to end it.

"I love it when Naruto-nichan does this…" said Sakura admiringly. "He's so… in authority…"

"Naruto-kun is so amazing…" added Hinata gazing at her boyfriend. "Do you think that Anbu would kill himself?" Sakura's eyes then widened in realization. It was cool to see Naruto beat them very easily but she didn't even realize what her brother was really doing, she had to stop him.

"Naruto-nichan!" screamed Sakura in a panic. "Don't do it! Don't kill him!"

"It's his choice." Naruto responded in a dark tone without looking at her. "We have to respect his decision if he wants to die, right?" His dark voice gave Sakura the chills but Hinata knew better. The heiress Blinked to the Anbu and gave him a slap on the face waking him up from his hypnotism. Naruto frowned knowing his little fun was already over before it really got interesting. Hinata looked at the trembling Anbu member, he was sweating heavily with absolute terror. She glanced over to the Death Knight who covered his eyes back with his blindfold and grinned. She narrowed her eyes at him and took the kunai away from the Anbu before real deaths occurred. Naruto gave an irritated sigh as he used Rejuvenation to repair the bones from the fainred fox Anbu while Sakura watched him silently.

_'What did Naruto-nichan just do to that guy… I know there are a lot more to his eyes than it seems…'_ thought Sakura determined to know more about her brother. '_I will know more about you… Naruto-ni-chan, I swear it.'_

Team 8 entered Konoha a several minutes later, the incident that happened before was never mentioned for the Anbus were too terrified at what just happened. They decided to keep quiet about it to themselves, no one else needed to know about it. Kurenai's team was surprised to see Team 7 there waiting for them especially the jounin. They could stop their curiosity to take over, they had to ask them what was their purpose.

"Naruto, Hinata-san, Sakura!" called Sasuke giving his friends a wave before approaching them.

"Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Sakura as she hugged him immediately. The Uchiha blushed as she approached him, Hinata and Naruto just smiled at the scene. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Sakura…" replied Sasuke giving her a slight embrace.

"Sasuke," called Shino in a monotone. "We can't have you slacking off hugging a girl while we have to carry this body you know." The word body caught Naruto's attention.

"Who's the body?" asked Naruto politely.

"Why do you care?" snapped Kiba. "It's not like you know him!" Kurenai gave the Death Knight a curious look which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

"Kurenai-san, Kiba-san and Shino-kun, I think I might know him." The Death Knight then made his way to Kiba and Shino who carried the body while the beast boy seemed to defend himself as the dark shinobi approached them. Naruto looked at the body and gave a grin. He was glad to see who it was.

"Naruto-kun…" said Hinata timidly. "Do you know who it is?"

"I do," replied the silver hair genin giving a warm smile. "It's my sempai named Haku."

"Sempai?" they all exclaimed except Kurenai. Naruto simply nodded.

"How do you know him?" asked Kurenai suspiciously.

"How did you meet him then?" countered Naruto sharply.

"We met him when they aided us on our mission. Our mission wasn't supposed to be like this… but they intended to create a diversion for us so… you know then he was outnumbered and been killed due to the sheer numbers, I'm sorry to tell you this…"

"Zabuza is killed?" asked Naruto with surprise and shock. "I can't believe this… what will Haku-sempai do now? Zabuza took care of him when he was young… how am I going to break this to him?"

"Actually," said Shino. "The boy already saw Zabuza's death… he went berserk and overdid himself… that's why he's unconscious right now…"

"Naruto, how did you know him anyway?" asked Sasuke very eagered to get a response. "This guy was one of the toughest guys we had to fight… His Demonic Ice Mirrors were really something… I couldn't even copy it… Well, he sort of lost control of himself and attacked everyone he saw..."

"Of course you can't," answered Naruto giving a sigh. "It's an advanced bloodline ability… the Sharingan can't copy anything like that… it's understandable."

"Naruto-nichan, what's your relationship with this boy?" asked Sakura pursuing the important subject.

"You all want to know?" The entire group of people nodded. The Death Knight took in a breath and sighed trying to think of where it would be a good place to start. "It started a few years back before I returned to Konoha… at that time I was only 10 or so. At that time, me, Rin-chan and Jiraiya-sensei were in the village of Mist trying to train on the more important and skillful missions. The people told us that there was an organization there that mainly held high class missions that the most skillful ninjas would actually cut it. The person who organized this group was none other than Zabuza. His most loyal assistant was Haku-sempai.

"Jiraiya-sensei told Rin-chan and I that completing those missions would help us build up our skills. We agreed and joined that organization as a pair. Of course, that was the first time that we met Haku-sempai. At that exact same day, there was a high class dangerous mission that was sent there. I wasn't surprised when I heard Zabuza say that the mission had a very high chance of death. At the same time, Haku-sempai was guaranteed to participate in this. Knowing this, Rin-chan and I knew this was an opportunity that we couldn't afford to miss. It was clear that we volunteered ourselves to take on the task."

"What was your mission?" asked Hinata.

"To stop a terrorizing gang of renegade shinobis who were approaching the Mist."

**_(A blast from the past...)_**

"Why did we come over a hour earlier before the gang arrived?" asked Naruto to Haku with Rin next to him. Rin was a short beautiful girl with long violet hair that reached down to her back. She had violet eyes and dressed in a black ninja assassin uniform with sandals. Her weapons were a katana and a large bow that she always carried. She was curious herself why Haku insisted to come this early. She observed the area, it was a recent abandoned construction site and most of the equipment was still here.

"I have a habit to always come early," answered Haku somewhat coldly. "I always come earlier to watch the scenery because there is always a chance I might not be able to see it again."

"With Haku-sempai around watching the two of us, I'm not that worried."

"I don't watch out for people, only their weapons." Rin looked at him somewhat confused while the Death Knight had a smirk on his face. "People have eyes, the weapons don't."

"Are you saying that you don't trust people?" asked Rin understanding what he was saying.

"Can I trust you?" asked Haku returning her question giving her a slight stare.

"I don't know," said Rin casually. "I know that I could trust you."

"Don't get your hopes too high, little girl."

"I know, I won't. When things get rough, I know I could rely on Naruto-nissan any day." She then grabbed her brother by the arm tightly making him smile.

"Rin-chan, don't do that here…" said Naruto poking her sister's cheek making her blush.

"You two seem pretty close," said Haku with a grin. "But you two don't seem to look alike."

"We aren't biological siblings…" answered Rin. "But it doesn't mean we can't be close." Naruto simply nodded and broke the embrace with his sister. Rin seemed disappointed but she knew she needed to focus the task ahead. Seeing the slight frown on Rin's face, the knight gave her a slight smile to cheer her up. With his Unholy Sight, Naruto could sense a large group of people heading their way. They weren't strong, but they had numbers.

"They're here…" said Naruto taking out Nightshadow from his sheath. Haku and Rin both went into a close alert. Unpredictably, a legion of arrows came from afar aiming straight at the three. Haku did a fall back signal and the trio quickly slid back to evade as more arrows and other weapons came their way. They had no choice but to retreat. Haku tossed his needles like missiles, Rin used her chakra as arrows to fire back powerful Searing Arrows as suppressing fire while Naruto launched Death Coils while moving back. It wasn't long before the enemy ninjas became visible to the three, that was when both Rin and Naruto attacked the incoming troops with a Chain Lightning. As the beam struck the first target, it automatically went for others nearby as well damaging additional 8 people. The 16 enemies that were shot fell dead to the ground while Haku ordered them to retreat to the construction equipment to hide. Knowing they would be outnumbered if they continued to fight head on, the archer and the knight released a couple of more suppressing attacks before they made it to where Haku was. They hid at the end of the pathway at two different sides, left and right. The three prepared for the enemies' arrival, once Naruto sensed that they were close, he gave Rin an attack signal. Both of them charged chakra into their hand and released Mana Burns continuously down the pathway striking down more shinobis who were foolish enough to head straight for them directly.

"Which way do we go?" asked Haku knowing there were more ninjas coming. He then made an ice mirror to block the path to delay them. The best way was for them to split up.

"We have a habit to pick right!" shouted Naruto already leaving with Rin.

"Suit yourself." Haku then quickly made a break for it as well. Knowing the amount of numbers, the Mist-nin knew that mirror wouldn't last for too long. He quickly found himself at a choke point and prepared to attack. The footsteps became more audible as time passed, it was then he showed himself to the enemy by tossing his needles at the critical points. He continued to toss at them killing them one by one like flies. As one of them came from above trying to stab the hunter-nin, he simply used a water bomb projecting his foolish opponent away. However, due to his overconfidence, an arrow and a kunai struck his right arm successfully. Haku flinched at the pain trying to run but it was then when an enemy ninja appeared in front of him.

"Looks like you can't move," taunted the enemy shinobi carrying a kunai ready to attack. "Prepare to die!" Haku's eye twitched in anger as he prepared for the worst, he knew he was cornered and was going to pay the ultimate price for being that careless. At that instant, he saw a blade coming out of the enemy ninja. The Mist Hunter-nin watched in shock as blood continued to pour out from the guy's wounds and mouth. As the blade extracted, the lifeless ninja fell defenselessly to the ground. Haku watched in surprise as he saw who it was that saved his life, it was his allies that came with him. He quickly got himself back up and took out the weapons that were stuck in his flesh.

"Why did you two come back?" asked Haku very curiously brushing his clothes.

"Because if we were in that same situation," explained Rin. "I'm certain that you would've done the same, Haku-sempai." The Mist orphan was surprised at her words, no one has ever done that for him other than Zabuza. By the tone that Rin was speaking, he knew she trusted him deeply when they officially met moments ago.

"When three people came out, Zabuza can't expect only 2 to return," added Naruto as he slid his bloody blade back into his sheath with a grin. "Am I right?"

"Maybe I should start to pick right from now on, shouldn't I?" joked Haku breaking the cold act. Rin and Naruto both looked at another and laughed. It wasn't too long before the older Mist-nin joined in the fun.

**_(Back to reality)_**

"After that incident," continued Naruto. "Haku-sempai began to be more opened to people and trusted the two of us very much. Whenever there were missions, he would often ask us to tag along with him. We learned a lot from each other, we became very close friends and usually spent most our free time with one another. I looked up to him like an older brother like I never had and Rin-chan… well, you can say that she really liked him. She of course never admitted it to him since she was too shy and all, but that's not the point. Eventually, Haku-sempai and we went our own ways since we had our own journey ahead of us. After painful goodbyes… you can say we haven't seen each other since until today."

"That is some story, Naruto," said Sasuke quite impressed. "You have to tell us more."

"Maybe another time," said Naruto with a smile.

"What are we going to do with Haku?" asked Sakura worriedly.

"We have to bring him to the Hokage, that's for certain." Said Kurenai trying to take the Hunter-nin but she was stopped by Naruto. "Naruto, we have to take him to see Hokage-sama, it's a rule we must go by."

"What's the use of taking an unconscious person to the Hokage?" said the Death Knight questioning the jounin's logic. "At least do it when he's awake, Kurenai-san."

"Where can we keep him for the time being?"

"He can stay at my place until he gets better…" said the silver hair boy.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Naruto-nichan?" asked Sakura.

"It's not like anyone of you know him," The others sadly agreed to the Death Knight's words. "I promise that Haku-sempai will confront to the Hokage when his injuries have healed."

"Okay…" said Kurenai agreeing to the boy. "Make sure he's in good hands, okay?" Naruto nodded with a smile and lifted his sempai's body over his shoulders. With that cleared, Naruto made a set of seals with one hand and teleported away in a flash. Hinata did the same thing and vanished as well. The entire Team 8 watched in shock to see how quick the Hyuga heiress reacted when she saw the Death Knight leave. Sasuke wasn't all out surprised for a good reason.

"Where did Hinata just go?" asked Kiba shaking the feeling of dumbfound. "I was about to ask her to have lunch with me…"

"I don't think Hinata-san will go with you anytime soon, Kiba…" said Sasuke with a smirk.

"Why is that?"

"Hinata-san and Naruto are like together…" said the Uchiha trying to control his chuckle.

"What? I should've confessed to her when I had the chance!"

"I don't think Hinata-san would've picked you even if you did before," said Sakura attempting not to laugh at the beast boy's clueless behaviour. All Kiba could do now was sulk a little bit to himself while Shino remained neutral not making any comment to insult his teammate. The best the bug user could do was to give his friend a slight pat on the back at least attempting to lighten the mood. Of course, being the quiet person Shino was, it didn't go as well as planned.

"Sasuke-kun," cooed Sakura hugging the Uchiha's arm with a blush on her face.. "You want to have lunch with me? I am kind of hungry… you don't have to if you are busy…"

"I'm kinda hungry myself, Sakura," replied Sasuke with a smile. "I could use some company."

"Then let's go!" exclaimed the pink haired girl dragging her friend away to the closest restaurant available. Sasuke didn't retaliate, he just allowed his friend to do whatever she wanted.

"Where do want me to put Haku's body, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata while she held the older Mist-nin in an aiding position.

"Put him on the futon in my other room, Hinata-chan," said Naruto as he searched for a phone book somewhere in his cupboards. "I need to make a quick phone call."

"To who?" she asked her boyfriend sweetly.

"Rin-chan, I think she would like to hear that her sempai is here." The Death Knight luckily found the stuff he needed, it was good that he was an organized person. He then reached for his phone and dialed a number. After a few rings, someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?" asked the voice, it was a soft female voice. The Death Knight knew who it was immediately.

"Rin-chan," said Naruto. "It's me."

"Naruto-nissan?" asked Rin trying very hard to control her excitement. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"I can't believe you are calling me!"

"I should be glad that you are at home at this time," said Naruto with a soft chuckle. "Anyway, how are you lately? Is being a chunnin hard?"

"Not really after the tough times we went through when we were kids," answered Rin happily. "You do know that the chunnin exam is gonna take place in Konoha in a week or so, right?"

"It is?" asked the Death Knight confused. "I've heard of nothing so far."

"Why? I thought Naruto-nissan would be a person to catch on almost anything ahead of time."

"How the hell am I suppose to know anything if my jounin sensei is a irresponsible jackass?" That statement alone made Rin laugh cutely. "It's not that funny, Rin-chan…"

"Is he even more irresponsible than ero-sennin?" she asked while giggling.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sensei at least taught us how to live life accordingly and techniques. This bastard called Kakashi does absolutely nothing, it's basically me who does everything."

"How so?"

"Like it's me leading the team instead of a jounin." Naruto explained with a bit of annoyance when he pictured the face of Kakashi in his mind. He somewhat hated the jounin.

"You were always amazing, Naruto-nissan. I'm sure your team is very strong with your guidance."

"You're giving me too much credit, Rin-chan. Right, Kakashi has become Jiraiya-sensei's official assistant for his novels. Nowadays, he spends more time with Jiraiya than with us…" explained Naruto in exhaustion.

"Ero-sennin still writes those books?" questioned Rin in disbelief, she could help but blush remembering what her former sensei did on his free time. The silver hair shinobi gave a nodding sound. "Naruto-nissan, what is the reason that you truly called me?" Naruto smiled at her sister's sharpness.

"Sempai is in Konoha, I got a feeling that you might want to see him."

"Which sempai? Itachi-sempai, Kisame-sempai or Haku-sempai?" she asked with delight.

"Haku-sempai… he seems to be in quite bad shape right now, physically and probably emotionally… Zabuza is dead… I'm sure it's really hard for Haku-sempai to deal with his loss…"

"Zabuza is dead?" asked the violet hair archer. "How did that happen? Naruto-nissan, who killed him?" At this point the girl was panicking. "Why didn't you do anything to help him!"

"I wasn't the one who was on the mission, Rin-chan!" shouted Naruto angrily. "It's not like I wanted Zabuza to die you know, if I was there, I would've killed myself if something like that happened if I was in command. I really don't know who killed him."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Naruto-nissan…" apologized Rin with guilt. "I know you wouldn't let anything like that happen… I'm just worried about sempai…"

"If you're worried about him, I think you should come to Konoha and watch over him for a while. I think Haku-sempai would be glad to see you as well." suggested Naruto sincerely. "You want to see him too, right?"

"I do. Besides, I need to come to Konoha as well."

"How come?"

"I am the chunnin that represents the village of Air in this chunnin exam, you can say I'm one of the judges that they need."

"When were you suppose to arrive?" asked the Death Knight.

"Around a month or two later, they need me to be a judge on the final exam," Rin explained. "Well… if Haku-sempai is here… I think I have a good reason to come too…" Rin tried very hard to sound to be too interested.

"If you are coming, how long would it take you to arrive?" Naruto knew she would want to come, he knew what she was trying to do.

"I'll say it will take me a week or a little bit more, it is a quite sudden trip."

"Okay, I hope to see you in a week, Rin-chan. I'll talk to you later."

"Later… I love you, Naruto-nissan!"

"I love you too, be careful on your way here, okay?" She gave him a nodding sound before hanging up. As Naruto turned off his phone, he couldn't help but smile. He was very glad to be able to see his sister again but most importantly, he wanted to know how his sempai was doing. He then went into the guestroom where Hinata was, he then became worried when he saw the expression on his girlfriend's face. "How is he, Hinata-chan?"

"He's quite low on chakra and his injuries are quite serious…"

"Nothing like a rejuvenation couldn't help." Said Naruto gathering chakra into his arms.

"He's in a coma, Naruto-kun. I don't think rejuvenation heals that…" The Death Knight shut his eyes with grimace, the Hyuga heiress then gave him a warm smile hoping things would get better. Hinata would do anything within her ability to see her beloved one to have a smile on his face always. She really didn't like to see him this worried and upset. "Naruto-kun, it'll be okay… it isn't anything that serious… I'm sure Haku-san would wake up."

"Don't try to flatter me, Hinata-chan…" stated Naruto with a sad sigh.

"I'm not trying to flatter you, I know Haku-san wouldn't take too long to wake up. Have faith in him like how I always had faith in you." She then gave him a sincere embrace, the boy didn't hesitate to give her one back. "His injuries aren't too fatal, he should be only be unconscious due to exhaustion, give him a week, okay?"

"You know, Hinata-chan," whispered the dark shinobi to her ear. "You seem to always know which words to make me feel better about everything." Hinata blushed immediately and held him tighter.

"I'm not your girlfriend for nothing, Naruto-kun," said the lavender eye girl a little timidly. Naruto just smiled at her without her knowing. He then leaned his head downward to hers and embraced her lips engaging in a passionate kiss. Hinata didn't refuse to give it back to him of course, it was something that she would never discard in almost any circumstance. While the Death Knight was enjoying the moment, deep down he really wished his sempai would be okay, it really hurt him to see the person he always looked up to lying in such a helpless state. He trusted Hinata's every word, he had faith in her as well. Naruto then banished that doubtful belief in his mind and continued what he at the task at hand.

_'Haku-sempai,'_ thought the runeblade wielder. _'For Rin-chan's sake, please continue to live on.'_ With that thought, Naruto broke the kiss he was having and embraced Hinata tightly for security, she knew what he was going through and gave him all the passion he needed. She dug her head into his chest while his hands were around her waist. No words were needed, the presence of one another was more than enough to satisfy them both.

_**AN: (Coughs a little more) That treatment was bad… with another chapter done, the next one would be the real deal, the Chunnin Exam. It'll take me a short while to post it, I hope you all are looking forward to it! I had a lot of fun writing this fic, I also hope I somewhat satisfied some action fans out there. Another quick note… on the last chapter, why did I leave the scenario into a curtain close like thing. I am not a lemon writer or have the intention of even thinking of writing stuff like that for people at the age of 13. Sure they may love each other, do they need to go that far after a long time confession? I don't think so. If I wrote something like that, this fic would be Rated-R for certain. I don't want to risk it yet. Somehow, I got a strange feeling that it would be later on… the violence might start to kick in sooner or later. Looks like time will tell. Anyway, please be kind and review, your support and encouragement are always welcome!**_

_**Until next time, if I make out of this infiltration mission alive… (Loud Sniper Rifle gunfire) DAMN IT, I got shot! Don't worry… it's only a flesh wound… I think I'm losing too much blood, I don't think I could last much longer… (Collapses on the ground as more blood flows out of my now wasted body.)**_


	10. Zealous Opponents of Chaos

DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT  
  
Chapter 10: Zealous Opponents of Chaos  
  
Disclaimer: (Runs back with head down and a broken leg with a 9mm Assault Rifle in hand and reloads it.) I don't own Naruto in any way (Fires to aid soldiers for covering fire) or I don't own Warcraft 3 either. (Tosses a grenade out to block incoming troopers.) C'mon, I need some suppressing fire! I need to make out of this mission alive damn it! (Runs out painfully continuing to make suppressing fire and an advance signal.)   
  
"…": Speech  
  
'…': Thoughts  
  
===: Scene Change.  
  
AN: Looks like I made it out alive to write this new chapter… man, this is getting really tough on me. I can't believe I finished this in 1 day. Someone's gotta stop me from this insanity! I just been shot and I am still writing like there's no tomorrow. I know some of you have some questions but I won't answer them here since they aren't really major. I will answer them next time if it is very important. For now, I hope you all will enjoy my humble story while I need to return to the battleground and aid anyone who needs me. I will write a little note at the end of the chapter if I make it back alive! Wish me luck! (I make an advance signal and crouch down to fire) I need backup now damnit. I will repeat now damnit, NOW!  
  
"Kakashi," said Naruto to his unreliable jounin instructor the next day on the bridge. "What is this important news that you need to tell us?" Hinata and Sakura weren't too thrilled too see their sensei that late either, they were starting to get a little impatient.  
  
"The news that you all want is here, my children," said the jounin with a smile. "I have nominated all three of you in this term's chunnin exam, are you three excited?"  
  
"I have to say you're doing a very bad job if you're trying to justify for your lateness, Kakashi," said Sakura with a very similar unsatisfied look just like her brother's. Both the girls no longer call Kakashi with the suffix sensei, they don't really think he deserved to be called that. As far as they are concerned, Naruto should be one called sensei since he was the one who did all the training.  
  
"What makes you think that we are actually up for it?" questioned Hinata softly.  
  
"I know you are, don't worry."  
  
"How do you know that?" snapped Naruto coldly. "You haven't been here on missions, training, or even spend time with this team. How would you even know if we are prepared for it or not?"  
  
"Hey, I have faith in you guys," replied Kakashi casually. "I know you three won't disappoint me"  
  
"Don't put your hopes so high on a bunch of people who are like strangers to you," reminded Sakura.  
  
"You guys aren't strangers to me…"  
  
"You are to us," added Hinata bluntly. "No further comment would be needed. Now, are we even qualified for the exam. This is a very important task, I know that."  
  
"Whenever genins have successfully completed 8 missions of any rank, they can be nominated in this exam. So far, you guys have completed more than enough."  
  
"How many have we completed so far?" asked the Death Knight with an irritated expression. "We have been doing so many lame D missions that I'm not even sure that we are up to this." Of course he knew he was up for it, but the mission record really didn't look too promising to anyone.  
  
"You three have done 6 C-Rank missions and 10 D-Missions, you guys would do fine." Kakashi then reached out three tickets of some kind and handed them to his students. The three genins looked puzzled of what those were. "There are the applications that you need in order to participate for the exam, present this before the test begins. It's your choice to whether you want to take it or not."  
  
"Our choice?" asked Sakura as she took her application ticket and read it. "When is this exam?"  
  
"It's 6 days away from today," explained Kakashi as he gave a grin. "The place and time is at the larger academy south of the academy you graduated from. The exam begins at 3:00, so don't be late or you won't be able to attend it."  
  
"6 days?" questioned Naruto as he slipped his form in his jacket pocket. "That's quite sudden, Kakashi."  
  
"It is, I think things aren't going that organized this year… anyway, there will not be any missions for these past few days, it's for you to train if you want to participate in the exam. Well, whether you want to take it or not there won't be missions neither way. So find something to occupy your time for now. If you three don't have any other questions, I need to be on my way to give in a report." With that stated, the jounin once again vanished in a cloud of smoke. Team 7 grinned to another and made their way back to town with very high hopes.  
  
=======================  
  
"So Naruto-kun," asked the Hyuga heiress as she attached herself onto the boy while walking down the streets of Konoha. "Are you going to participate in this exam?"  
  
"I might as well. I made myself a promise to Rin-chan that I would become a chunnin as soon as possible," said Naruto as he tugged the Hyuga girl closer. "I think I really should."  
  
"I wonder why Kakashi allowed us to take on this exam individually?" Sakura wondered to herself out loud. Naruto smiled at his pink hair sister's sharpness. "This sort of doesn't make much sense."  
  
"Trust me Sakura-chan," said the Death Knight holding Sakura's hand softly like an older brother would. "If one of us doesn't show up when the exam begins, the remaining 2 people wouldn't be able to continue."  
  
"How come?" asked Hinata curiously.  
  
"The chunnin exam is a test taken with teams of three, meaning the genin teams. Up to this point for all genins, the main task is to work together. We have been trained under the guidance of a jounin all for one purpose, to take on this chunnin exam and pass it and promote to the next level."  
  
"How do you know that?" asked Sakura confused.  
  
"Rin-chan, my sister, she took it last year before I left the village of Air and she required two other people to aid her before she could participate. That's how I knew."  
  
"Is she a chunnin?" asked the lavender eye girl. The Death Knight nodded.  
  
"Then why didn't you take on the chunnin exam then?" asked Sakura.  
  
"Rin-chan preferred that I became a chunnin of Konoha… I think she was being too considerate…"  
  
"You should feel grateful for having such a caring sister, Naruto-kun," stated Hinata sweetly. "I know Rin-san wouldn't like it if she heard what you just said." Naruto simply shrugged as Sakura jabbed him slightly with her elbow causing the silver hair shinobi to flinch slightly. As he flinched, the Death Knight unintentionally gathered more chakra into his eyes allowing him to sense several unidentified chakra levels nearby. They were high and it didn't feel like anyone from Konoha. He stopped immediately and formed a seal to sense the chakra signatures more clearly. He then made a small advance signal and took off in a flash. Hinata and Sakura grinned to another and followed their leader's lead. Naruto jumped from building to building with his teammates following close behind, he was impressed that they could actually keep up with this speed. It wasn't something that could be performed without more intense training. With their training for the past 2 months or so, the training seriously paid off. As Naruto arrived at the scene, he already saw a boy dressed in complete black suit with purple face painting lifting a young child with a blue cape. What caught Team 7's attention was that he had something like a mummy on his back. He seemed to be having a good time bullying the younger boy. The youngster had two other friends with him who were begging for forgiveness. Behind the face painted boy stood a short blond hair girl with dark brown eyes. She was dressed in a white shirt with a white skirt. She was equipped with a large metal object on her back and by the looks of things, she seemed to be even older than the black suit boy. The Death Knight knew that their chakra levels were the ones he sensed, he just didn't know what the hell was happening here.  
  
"You know," began the black suit genin to the blue caped boy. "I really hate midgets who are careless, it makes me want to beat them up." It seemed that he didn't notice Team 7's presence, he was too focussed in trying to have fun while the two other kids were trying everything they could for him to release their friend. Naruto's cold stare didn't go unnoticed by the blond hair girl though.  
  
"Kankuro," called the blond hair genin. "Let him go, we aren't here to cause any trouble."  
  
"Quiet, Temari!" snapped the black suit boy named Kankuro. "I'll have my fun regardless."  
  
"Fine, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens next." Temari just shrugged and backed off.  
  
"You worry too much, Temari. Nothing is gonna happen."  
  
"Leave Konohamaru-chan alone, you big bully!" shouted the little girl who had a pair of goggles on her forehead. Her other friend also had the same pair, he was wearing glasses.  
  
"What did Konohamaru-kun ever do to you!" exclaimed the little boy with glasses.  
  
"Shut up, you fools!" snapped Kankuro as he prepared to take a piece out of the helpless Konohamaru.  
  
"If I were you, I would stop right now." Naruto declared coldly as he stepped forward to face the mummy carrier. As the two children saw help was here, they quickly went and hid behind Hinata and Sakura. Team 7's glare never left Kankuro as he was still smirking.   
  
"What if I don't stop? Is something going to happen?"  
  
"Oh, something will happen alright. I'll guarantee it, my friend." continued Naruto in authority.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Look, your friend made a good point just now. Don't cause any trouble and let him go.  
  
"What if I don't? What are you going to do, stare at me all day?" taunted Kankuro snickering.  
  
"I'll say it again, let him go now. Make your life a little bit more easier."  
  
"I say it's a hell lot easier for me to beat him up!" Naruto simply gave an evil smirk of satisfaction.  
  
"You just made your first mistake." stated the blindfolded boy grinning. At that instant, the silver hair genin was beside Kankuro and struck his stomach with his elbow. That pain alone made Kankuro release Konohamaru from his grasp. Naruto caught the youngster with his left arm as his opponent tried to attack back. With a slight turn of his hip, the Death Knight gave a heavy snap kick at the black suit genin to the face sending him at least 6 feet back. Temari was very impressed at Naruto's speed, it happened so quickly that she barely caught up. Kankuro slowly got up holding his painful face with anger as Konohamaru ran back to the safety of his friends. Naruto watched pitifully as his opponent flashed a furious glare. The dark shinobi didn't hesitate to give one back.  
  
"Damn it…" cursed Kankuro. "I really hate showoffs!" He then angrily released the mummy on his back.  
  
"You're going to use Karasu already?" asked Temari in disbelief.  
  
"This will teach that showoff what I am made of." Naruto simply stood in a slight taijutsu stance giving a come on signal.  
  
"Kankuro, stop it now." called a monotone voice with extreme coldness into it. Hinata, Sakura and Naruto looked above at the trees to the right and saw a figure with short red hair with a strange gourd on his back. On his left side of his forehead, there was a carved tattoo with the Chinese word 'Love'. The Death Knight didn't even sense him, that kid had Kakashi's level of sneakiness. However, that wasn't what troubled Naruto. He sensed a very powerful demonic presence within that boy, he had an incredible source of chakra as well. It was clear that he wasn't your average day shinobi.  
  
"Ga… Gaara…" said Kankuro forcing a smile on his face with an additional cold sweat. That didn't go unnoticed by anybody, even the three kids saw it. It was dead given who was stronger.  
  
"You better stop it now," said Gaara like a freezing wave of wind was blowing at you. "… Or I will kill you…" His words made Hinata and Sakura shiver to the core. Gaara then teleported himself to the street and stepped forward to Naruto. "I'm sorry that my teammates have caused you so much trouble," continued the red head somewhat warmer. "I will apologize for them on their behalf. I swear that this won't happen again."  
  
"Apology accepted," said Naruto emotionlessly. "You better keep your word."  
  
"Just who are those guys anyway?" asked Hinata to her boyfriend.  
  
"They are shinobis from the Sand, I can tell by their forehead protectors."  
  
"Even so," stated Sakura annoyed. "They can't just go around to other people's village like this!"  
  
"Are you guys that clueless?" asked Temari which sounded a lot more like a statement. She then took out a small pocket book from her shirt and showed them a passport. "Here's my passport, you guys could check it if you want to. We are here for the chunnin exam."  
  
"You guys are taking it too?" asked Hinata politely.  
  
"Yeah we are, so you guys better be expected to see more foreign ninjas in the near future."  
  
"Thanks for the good tip." Stated Naruto without much enthusiasm as he turned his back ready to leave.  
  
"You with the sword," called Gaara. "I'm interested in you, mind if you tell me your name? I'm Gaara of the Desert."  
  
"There's no need for me to tell you, you'll know my name soon enough." The two then gave each other a handshake while their chakra were battling each other in a rage. Naruto's was green, Gaara's was red. As the two finished the little confrontation, both smirked before changing directions.  
  
"Hey, do you want to know my name?" asked a hopeful Temari with a blush.  
  
"Not interested." The Death Knight then walked back to his Team with the Konohamaru corps leaving the Sand-nins do their thing. Naruto took one last look at Gaara with much caution. 'I need to look out for that guy…' thought Naruto as the girls were having worries of their own.  
  
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata tugging his arm gently. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine…" he replied with a grimace. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, those three are a lot more than they appear to be… especially Gaara…"  
  
"I got a feeling you would say that," said Sakura with a smile.  
  
"Promise me that you two will be careful on the exam, okay?" The girls nodded with a reassuring smile on their faces. They wouldn't do anything to worry him since they knew he wouldn't do anything reckless to make them worried. The corps were still too scared from the previous experience they ran away quickly after apologizing with a few introductions. It was understandable, at least Team 7 knew their names were Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi.  
  
"Naruto-kun… I'm kind of hungry…" admitted Hinata with a slight blush.  
  
"Thinking the same thing," said Naruto with a smile. "Sakura-chan, you coming?"  
  
"You wouldn't leave your little sister out would you?" questioned Sakura putting her hands to her waist pouting a little bit. Hinata and Naruto laughed a bit at her sudden change in behaviour and the pink hair girl soon joined in to their fun. "Come on, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!" She then grabbed both her teammates by the wrists and dragged them to the central district of Konoha where the real action was held.  
  
=======================  
  
(The following night before the exam)  
  
It was the night before the real deal that involved many people in Konoha. Every genin participating were very anxious and nervous. Uchiha Sasuke was confident that he would do well, he had been training intensely for a long period of time. He couldn't wait to see how much his hard work made him improve. Their team had been asking for C rank missions only after they completed their very first one with very outstanding results. Team 8's record was an impressive 10 C missions and 4 D missions. It was a promising genin team that was for certain. Hinata and Sakura weren't all that worried knowing Naruto would be on their side aiding them spiritually all the way. With a leader like the Death Knight, those two felt they could accomplish anything if they put their mind into it. Naruto currently was on the roof-top of his apartments doing his final meditations before the exam arrived. He was worried about his sempai who still hadn't wakeup from his exhaustion. It has been nearly a week since he arrived, all Naruto could hope was for Rin to arrive soon. No, he hoped Haku would be awake before Rin arrived, he didn't want to see his sister to be upset. He banished those negative thoughts out of his system, he had to be fully ready for tomorrow. Not only are Hinata and Sakura would be needing him to do his best, he knew there were plenty of strong rivals out there waiting. Once again, he regained focus and continued with his training. However, somewhere in the training area in the forests there was a gathering. 3 genins were present.  
  
"Guess what I heard," said a boy in a green jump suit with thick eyebrows and a bowl haircut. "For the first time in 5 years they are allowing fresh rookies from the academy to take part in the chunnin exam. I really don't know if I should be looking forward to this or be disappointed."  
  
"You sure about that?" questioned a girl doubtfully while spinning a kunai in her right hand. She was wearing a pink sleeveless Chinese style shirt which outlined her body very well. "It could be just jounin instructors who are trying to brag to Hokage-sama about their students."  
  
"I don't think so though."  
  
"You sound pretty certain about this," said the final member of the team. He had long dark brown hair with pale lavender eyes. "Tell us about it, Lee."  
  
"I heard that students of that Hatake Kakashi are taking the exam too. What do you think, Neji? Tenten?"  
  
"If it is Kakashi…" said Tenten while aiming her weapon a little. "It stills sounds like a rivalry."  
  
"This would be very interesting indeed." Neji finished while smirking.  
  
"Should we be looking forward to this then, Neji-kun?" asked Tenten happily.  
  
"I think we should."  
  
"But in the end," Tenten then tossed her kunai effortlessly at a doll above Neji. The doll was filled with Shurikens and kunais at every critical point from head to toe. The new one then hit at a more empty spot right at the crotch area. It was dead accurate.  
  
"You just have to feel sorry for them."  
  
========================  
  
At 2:15 PM the very next day, Team 7 organized themselves at the designated academy. They were prepared to go all out on this, there was no turning back now. Hinata and Sakura both agreed to try their hardest and not mess up for Naruto, they knew that they couldn't afford to make mistakes at this crucial moment. Every chance of success could benefit them greatly. The three entered the academy and headed to the higher floors. As they reached a floor, they saw a crowd of people gathering around a sliding door with two young guards outside. At the same time, Hinata noticed there was a boy in a green jumpsuit on the ground wiping his chin a little bit from the punch he just received. Sakura looked up to the sign above, it said room 301 but a smirk soon came across her face.  
  
Naruto couldn't imagine what he was seeing, that boy was weak, there was absolutely no way that he could participate in the exam with that low skill.  
  
"You think you could just enter the chunnin exam like that?" taunted the first guard. "That was so pathetic!" The girl on the green suit boy's team helped her friend up as she stepped forward.  
  
"Let us pass, I'll be the next challenger," she announced but with a several punches she was already knocked away and fell to the ground on her rear end.  
  
"You think you can become a chunnin like that?" spat the second guard who looked at the two pitifully. "Even we messed up a several times before we claimed this title. Chunnins are commanders and platoon leaders in assault squads who are natural leaders and not everyone is capable of being one. One who has no skills and knowledge whatsoever shouldn't be here. If that's all you've got, you might as well go home!"  
  
"The chunnin exam is full of deadly surprises," continued the first guard. "There were people who became psychologically impaired after facing such harshness in the process. You two are just kids, there will be other chances in the future, I suggest that you go home while you can. After all, we did survive through it and it was very tough. I suggest you take my advice and leave while you still can."  
  
"Excuse me," said Naruto walking through the crowd of people with his team. "You two have a pretty sound argument just now. However, I suggest that you use that little speech of yours if you were actually on the correct floor don't you think?" Hinata and Sakura nodded silently in agreement while many of the crowd started to chat amongst themselves with the most confusion.  
  
"We are trying to get to the 3rd floor, thank you." Hinata stated with a very friendly tone but firm.  
  
"This is the third floor," answered the second guard.  
  
"This is obviously genjutsu," said the Death Knight with a grin. "Sakura-chan, I'm sure you must've saw through this a long time ago. Your genjutsu ability is even higher than mine, you're the best on the team." Sakura then gave a smile to her brother and a grin to the two guards.  
  
"So you saw through it?" The pink hair girl nodded and with a wave of her hand, the room number changed from 301 back to 201. She revealed it as if she was nothing, nearly everyone was shocked. In Naruto's mind, this little entrance test already proved to these two guards who were worthy and who weren't. Sadly enough, many of them were in the trash category before it started.  
  
"Pretty impressive," complimented the first guard with mockery. "But seeing through it won't be enough." He quickly made a forward flip to gain more attack strength to give a flip kick to Naruto. The dark shinobi narrowed his eyes and prepared his own counter. Suddenly out of the blue, the green jump suit boy got up swiftly and achieved a high agility dash effortlessly into the middle. He then blocked both kicks with his hands holding each leg firmly. Once he knew both sides have stopped, he released with a sigh. 'He's fast!' thought Sakura as she witnessed the whole thing. 'He wasn't like the person who was being knocked around earlier…' said Hinata to herself in her mind very impressed. 'He caught my kick like that…' thought Naruto watching the thick brow genin. 'It's clear that he's strong… he did it without using chakra either…' Naruto made sure he noted that carefully.  
  
"Hey, you broke our promise," called the final member with pale lavender eyes to Lee, this was obviously Neji. "Weren't you the one who said not to draw attention to ourselves?"  
  
"Yeah…" admitted Lee in defeat. "I guess I forgot…" He then looked at Sakura and clenched a fist with both flaming passion and determination. However, Sakura didn't catch this.  
  
"Oh no, she must be the reason why…" said Tenten shaking her head back and forth while Neji silently agreed with her. Naruto and Hinata watched Lee carefully as he made his way to Sakura.  
  
"My name is Rock Lee," The thick brow genin introduced himself proudly. "So you are Sakura-san?"  
  
"Huh?" was all Sakura could say at that awkward moment. Her teammates watched confusedly.  
  
"Let's go out together!" exclaimed Lee energetically. "I'll protect you until I die!" He then did his trademark nice guy pose with his teeth shining with a touch of sparkle. Hinata immediately fell backwards anime style while Naruto's eyebrow with a touch of disgust. 'Aren't you being a little too direct, Lee-san?' thought the Death Knight secretly anxious for Sakura's response.  
  
"No way…" replied Sakura absolutely terrified at the offer that was given to her. Lee looked pretty discouraged at this point in a very funny way. "I think you're lame…" At that instant, Lee knew he was defeated.  
  
"Hey, you with the sword," called Neji to a relieved Naruto picking up his girlfriend. As soon as Hinata heard Neji's voice, she immediately ran to him and gave him a sudden hug. "Hinata-sama…" Neji whispered trying not to blush. "Please don't do that here…" Fortunately, Hinata listened to her older cousin.  
  
"I'm just glad to see you, Neji-nissan," justified Hinata cutely making Neji sigh. Naruto silently chuckled at the scene displayed in front of him.  
  
"C'mon, you see me everyday, Hinata-sama…"  
  
"Fine, I won't hug you anymore." The Hyuga heiress pouted turning away pretending to be angry. However, Neji fell for it every time. He then tried to reason with her but she always ignored him with a pout. Tenten and Naruto could laugh at the sight but chose not to yet.  
  
"So, you are Neji's little cousin," said Tenten breaking the previous little tension. Hinata then turned around with a bright smile on her face which made Neji widen his eyes a little bit due to her sudden change. "My, you are so much cuter than Neji, not to mention a lot less cold."  
  
"I know I am less cold, right, Neji-nissan?" question the heiress cutely. Neji just mumbled something like a yes or whatnot to satisfy her. "So how was Neji-nissan when you first met him." Neji's eyes shot wide open at that question while Naruto couldn't help himself but to eavesdrop.  
  
"He was like the ultimate cold guy when I met him," said Tenten. "Of course, it wasn't long before Lee and I found his soft side and worked on that. Now you can say he is a…" She was interrupted by Neji when he covered her mouth with his hand with an embarrassed face. Tenten flailed a little bit but Neji held her still.  
  
"You can talk about that later, Tenten…" hissed Neji desperately. Tenten nodded with a small pout but gave Hinata a slight wink. At that point, she already knew she made a new friend. "Anyway, as I was saying…" continued the Hyuga boy to Naruto. "What's your name?"  
  
"If you want to know other people's name, you should give yours first." stated silver hair shinobi.  
  
"I'm Hyuga Neji."  
  
"Uzumaki Naruto, it's good to see you." He then offered his hand for a handshake and the Hyuga didn't hesitate to offer his in a friendly manner. The two looked into each other's eyes with a deep sense of rivalry. 'So you're Uzumaki Naruto, eh?' thought Neji narrowing his eyes. 'Hinata-sama has told me a lot about you… you are a worthy rival.' Neji then tightened his grip in his handshake intentionally. Naruto did the same with a grin. 'Hyuga Neji… there are definitely a lot of monsters in this exam… this would be fun indeed.' "Who's that pretty girl beside you?" asked the Death Knight ending the intense moment. As he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, she immediately blushed.  
  
"I'm Katase Tenten…" said the mentioned person very shyly. "It's nice to meet you…" (AN: I made up her last name, everyone needs one after all) 'He's so cute!' thought Tenten with joy. Naruto smiled a bit seeing so energetic.  
  
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure. Anyway, the exam is going to start very soon, it would be best for my team to get going for now." Neji agreed with a nod and Tenten quickly went behind him. Hinata looked over to Sakura who was relieved to be at her team's side. Naruto glanced back and still saw Lee in his depressed state, he didn't know to feel sorry for him or not. His first impression was truly kind of direct. The Death Knight then excused himself along with his team and made their way to another area of the building proceeding to the third floor. Hinata quickly made her way beside Naruto while Sakura wrapped her arms around the boy's neck like a baby sister.  
  
"Naruto-nichan, Hinata-san, you wanna hang out downstairs for a bit before we head up to room 301? We still have time right now." suggested Sakura as she released herself from her brother.  
  
"Sure," said Hinata agreeing with the idea. "How about you, Naruto-kun?" Naruto simply muttered something to satisfy them both, he wasn't really the person who liked to hang out when a task was ahead of him. Without Team 7 realizing, Neji, Lee and Tenten were watching them closely. The Hyuga and Lee were watching Naruto the entire time.  
  
"Neji-kun," said Tenten holding his hand softly. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, Tenten…" replied the Hyuga glancing at her for one second before reverting his attention away.  
  
"You're interested in that boy, aren't you?"  
  
"You read my mind like a book again," He then sighed slightly to catch her attention. "How do you do it, Tenten? You always seem to know what I'm thinking."  
  
"I'm not your teammate for nothing, ne, Neji-kun?" she countered sweetly making him grin.  
  
"Yeah, you're right on that. Anyway, we should get going." The female weapon master nodded and followed the Hyuga boy's lead. However, Lee didn't move from that spot, something was on his mind.  
  
"Lee," called Tenten turning around to see her teammate not moving a muscle. "We have to go."  
  
"You guys go ahead without me," said Lee turning towards the opposite direction. "There's something I want to check first." Without another word, the thick brow genin took off before Tenten could object.  
  
"What was that about, Neji-kun?"  
  
"How would I know?" was Neji's reply before he took her hand and left the area as well.  
  
=========================  
  
Team 7 were currently on the lower opened area purchasing soda from the pop machine. Obviously Naruto decided to pay for them. Hinata rested her head on his shoulders as Sakura gave him a kiss on the cheek as a token of gratitude. Naruto simply put a smile on his face when he saw his team happy, he always did. He closed his eyes as he took a small zip from his soda. Then he opened them when he sensed a presence nearby. He took a glimpse at the balcony and saw someone he didn't expect to see. It was Rock Lee, the look on his face was a very serious one. The girls looked at him with suspicion, especially Sakura. The Death Knight simply smirked.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Naruto as he crushed his can of pop.  
  
"I've come to ask you a favor," replied Lee in a firm voice. Naruto simply gave him a gesture to continue. "Would you fight me here, right now?" The Death Knight raised an eyebrow a little while Hinata and Sakura was quite shocked at his request. Lee then jumped off from the railing and landed softly like a cat. Team 7 watched Lee carefully as he stood up in a taijutsu stance. The familiar one with the left arm behind your back and the right arm in front in a somewhat taunting position. "So you want to know someone's name, you should introduce your own first, right? My name is Rock Lee, this must be something you want to hear am I correct, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."  
  
"So you knew all along…"  
  
"Yes, I want to fight you."  
  
"You're challenging me without even knowing who I am?" questioned Naruto with a bit of irritation. "I must say you are a lot more ignorant than I thought."  
  
"What my ambitions are is none of your concern." Lee stated not affected by Naruto's words. "C'mon, my challenge still stands, Naruto-kun. Besides…" He then took a glimpse of Sakura with a blush on his face. The pink hair girl jerked immediately while the other two weren't looking forward to what would happen next.  
  
"YEACK! I hate those thick eyebrows!" shouted Sakura flailing her arms, holding her head and finally hugging herself from non-stop shivering. "Those eyebrows… that bowl haircut… I hate everything about them!" Sadly enough, Hinata had to agree.  
  
"You're an angel." The thick brow boy then gave a blow-kiss to his so-called loved one. Sakura, Hinata and Naruto's eyes turned as wide as saucers. The emerald eye genin panicked like mad but luckily she dodged it in one piece. She panted heavily but Lee's gift didn't end there for he then sent a swarm of those blow-kisses since he admired the girl's elegant movements. Sakura screamed in terror did a several twist and turns and ducks to evade the best she could. She couldn't believe how fortunate she was to dodge all of them alive. Naruto and Hinata continued to watch at most disgust.  
  
"Hey!" yelled the pink hair genin shking her fist violently. "Don't send those creepy things at me! I had to dodge them as if my life depended on it, you bastard!"  
  
"Oh, don't be like that… you don't have to be so negative about it…" whined a disappointed Lee. 'Negative is hardly the word…' thought Hinata with a sweatdrop. 'Sakura-chan is so gonna hate you for this.' stated Naruto mentally while grinning to himself.   
  
"So you want to challenge me?" asked the Death Knight to confirm. "I have to say you're really overconfident."  
  
"My offer still stands, Naruto-kun."  
  
"This would be a good warm up for the exam," said Naruto reaching for his blade. "I'll glad…"  
  
"Wait!" exclaimed Sakura firmly. Both Lee and Naruto then looked at Sakura. "I'll handle this guy!"  
  
"The person I wish to fight is Naruto-kun, not you." ordered Lee seriously.  
  
"You'll pay for giving me those kisses! Naruto-nichan, give me 5 minutes to deal with him!" refusing to hear what Naruto or Hinata had to say about this, Sakura decided to act on her own and engaged a battle with Lee. In a matter of seconds, Sakura was already giving a punch to the taijutsu specialist.  
  
'I'm sorry, my love.' thought Lee as he took one small step forward with his right hand in a pointing position. When Sakura's fist got close, without trouble Lee used his two fingers and pushed her hand away from him. The Hyuga heiress was surprised at the boy's ability, he knocked away Sakura effortlessly. The pink hair shinobi glared at Lee with a bit of fear. As she prepared herself for a counter, her opponent was already ready. Using her hands to support herself, she gave a twin leg kick which Lee leaned his head a bit back to avoid all impact. What scared the girls was the fact he did it with his eyes closed. "Konoha Senpuu!" shouted the thick brow boy performing a 360 degree spinning kick striking Sakura by the arms causing her rolling backwards until crashing into the wall behind Lee forcefully. She was knocked out.  
  
"He's strong…" whispered Hinata worriedly to herself.  
  
"I'll say this," said Lee in his taijutsu stance. "You guys won't be able to defeat me."  
  
"You sound very certain about that, tell me why." demanded Naruto.  
  
"That's because I am the strongest amongst all the Konoha genins." 'Based on what I saw,' noted Naruto in his mind. 'This guy is a taijutsu specialist. His moves don't require any chakra and he's very good at it. I can't miss a chance at fighting someone like that.'  
  
"Lee-san," called out a timid yet firm voice. Lee then looked over to see the 2nd girl on Naruto's team, the Hyuga heiress. "I'll fight you."  
  
"Hinata-chan, there's no need for that." Said Naruto.  
  
"I want to see how far I could go against him, please allow me."  
  
"The person I want to challenge isn't you." stated Lee.  
  
"I'm the heiress of the Hyuga family," said Hinata with calmness. "I'm sure this name would appeal to you enough to change your mind."  
  
"If you put it that way, I shouldn't discard this offer. What's your name?"  
  
"I'm Hyuga Hinata, may be the best shinobi win." Hinata immediately activated the Byakugan and stood in the Hyuga stance. 'She's very kind,' thought Lee sincerely. 'I can't believe she's the Hyuga heir that I've heard from Neji.' Without wasting another second, the Byakugan user dashed forward with her palm charged with chakra. Lee slid sideways a bit to dodge but Hinata's attacks didn't end there. She used her body to shift a bit to achieve more speed to catch up with her opponent's movements. 'She's fast!' thought Lee as her palm nearly struck him in the arm. Knowing how deadly the gentle fist was, the taijutsu specialist knew staying on defensive was a great disadvantage to himself. He needed to claim the upper hand but had quite the difficulty under Hinata's continuous deadly attacks. Lee quickly bent back slightly to give himself some time to prepare his counter. The boy delivered a snap kick to her, to his surprise it missed. She dodged it naturally but his pursuit continued for he then swiftly performed the Konoha Senpuu. Using her left arm, she took the hit and blocked it. However, it wasn't good enough not to take considerable amount of damage. Lee was just as strong as Hinata predicted. Using her right hand, she prepared more chakra and released the deadly Mana Burn in one hand. Not knowing what that technique was, Lee quickly broke away from her but not good enough not to hit him. The beam hit him in the arm, it was fortunate.  
  
"Konoha Senpuu!" shouted Lee making an incredible recoil. However, Hinata shifted her body backwards so the kick whizzed by her face. With a small maneuver, Lee slid on the ground in an amazing pace to form another assault. Knowing she didn't have the speed to dodge, the only choice was to block it. However, with a bit more stamina, Lee gave a very quick kick to Hinata's cheek sending her a few feet away crashing to the ground. 'He broke through my guard…' thought the Hyuga heiress rubbing her cheek a little bit with fierce eyes. 'He's good.'  
  
'So, she's getting up as I suspected,' said Lee mentally. 'I think I might need to use that move, I'm sorry, Gai-sensei!' The thick brow genin continued with his attacks but the girl was ready. As Lee's fist came aiming at her head, she shifted slightly to avoid it. Lee was impressed how she could dodge so easily, it was like as if her body was moving on its own accordingly bring her to safety. Of course, he didn't know she learned the passive ability Evasion. Seeing an opening point, Hinata gave a twin palm strike this time at her opponent's chest area. Knowing how fatal that could be, Lee sucked his body in so her hands didn't make contact with him. Even so, he felt the amount of chakra put in that attack, he couldn't help himself but to feel a bit of pain.  
  
The Hyuga heiress already knew she was at a complete disadvantage, it was clear to her that Lee knew the gentle fist well, he was predicting her moves ahead of time already. As if that was discouraging enough, she could tell she didn't have the swiftness and strength that Lee had. She could catch up with him for now, but it was only a matter of time before she would fail to do so. She had no choice but to use the Hidden Techniques now, she was hoping to use them during the exam. The taijutsu specialist then dashed at her again, this time faster. When he gave another quick assault, Hinata smirked as she generated chakra in her left hand forming a shield.  
  
"What?" said Lee as his kick was blocked by another mysterious attack. He couldn't get out of it as he prepared for the worst. 'Could this be the Hyuga's Kaiten?' Naruto simply grinned.  
  
"Fan of Knives!" shouted Hinata spinning rapidly in a 360 angle multiple times releasing piercing chakra blades in every direction. The blades were unleashed quickly that Lee didn't have the time to react. The first wave struck him directly, the burning and piercing sensation was unbearable. There was at least a several dozen blades stuck to him. 'Is this a Hyuga technique?' thought Lee as he watched in horror as the second wave came in a flash. Using chakra to increase his movements, the thick brow genin jumped, flipped and rolled trying his best to avoid any more of those incoming attacks. Knowing Lee was too fast, Hinata dropped the Fan of Knives as she watched her opponent charge at her with a fist. Once his fist got close, she formed a seal and Blinked away to a fair distance away from him to recover. 'She's really good…' thought Lee attempting to ease the pain but inhaling more air. 'I really have to use that move on her after all…'  
  
'I shouldn't be holding back this much…' thought Hinata focussing all her attention at Lee. 'If I used all of my attacks here… Lee-san would know my style of combat before the exam starts. However… I'm not sure if I could beat him even if I go 100%, I can tell he's holding back too.' The Hyuga girl then went into her preferred stance and prepared herself for more. Out of the blue, Hinata was sent into the air by one of Lee's heavy and yet quick kicks. That stunned the girl since it was aimed at her chin, she couldn't defend herself after that. At that time, Naruto was already at Sakura's side waking her up. Even so, that kick didn't go unnoticed by the Death Knight. 'He was putting a lot of stamina into that kick… what is he up to?' thought Naruto as he continued to watch both fighters closely. Lee then kneeled into a positon and suddenly appeared right underneath Hinata performing the Shadow Dance. The heiress twitched knowing this would be the end. Sakura finally woke up, her eyes widened in fear when she saw Lee was in the air underneath his opponent. She was shocked when she saw the opponent was Hinata. The heiress looked helpless.  
  
"Naruto-nichan!" shouted Sakura shaking him. "What's going on? Why is Hinata-san fighting?"   
  
"Sakura-chan," whispered Naruto calming her down a little. "Watch this move carefully, I might need to step in." It was then when Lee released a lengthy amount of bandage from his left arm, it was obvious that he was preparing himself to attack. 'He's preparing way too much stamina…' thought Naruto. 'Is he trying to pull off a forbidden technique?' As Lee was trying to wrap the girl, suddenly a needle with a windmill on it struck the tip of his bandage. It nailed right at the wall stopping Lee's attack from continuing. As the taijutsu specialist released the Shadow Dance, he landed to the ground safely while Hinata was falling helplessly. "Hinata-chan!" shouted Naruto running to catch her in an embrace before she made contact to the floor. He looked at her eyes and something was amiss. 'She couldn't even defend herself from that fall… damn it…' "Hinata-chan, are you okay?"  
  
"Naruto-kun…" whimpered Hinata nuzzling closer to him. "Do you think I was bad?"  
  
"I think you're beautiful," comforted the boy stroking her cheek. Hinata blushed like a tomato while Sakura giggled to herself. "Now… where did that needle come from?" Team 7 then took a glance at Lee who was kneeling in front of something, they didn't expect it was a turtle. The three stared blankly as Lee was looking at the ground with shame.  
  
"So… you were watching?" asked Lee to the turtle with guilt in his voice.  
  
"Lee!" shouted the red turtle with a Konoha protector around his neck. "That move is forbidden!"  
  
"I'm sorry… I got carried away…" apologized the green suit genin. 'He's being scolded,' thought Hinata. 'Could that turtle be his sensei?' At that moment, the turtle shot an angry glare making Lee sweat in fear and flailing his arms to justify himself. "But… but… I really wasn't going to use the other one… I swear I am telling the truth!" The turtle still didn't look convinced. Naruto's eyes twitched when he heard Lee, that guy knows more forbidden techniques, he really wasn't your average day ninja. Hinata and Sakura on the hand were still confused at what was actually going on.  
  
"Naruto-kun… what is that turtle?" asked Hinata curiously.  
  
"I don't know…" replied Naruto a little bit annoyed at the scene himself.  
  
"So, a turtle could become a jounin instructor as well?" asked Sakura equally lost.  
  
"I don't know…" Naruto was even more confused than before.  
  
"You fool!" shouted the turtle at Lee, the boy closed his eyes due to the sudden outburst. "Did you expect such a lame excuse like that would work? You should know better than anyone that a shinobi shouldn't reveal any of their moves!"  
  
"Sir." Said Lee silently but audible. 'I can't believe Hinata-san lost to that weird guy.' thought Sakura  
  
"So are you ready to pay the consequences?"  
  
"Sir…"  
  
"Then here comes Gai-sensei, please take care of the rest." With that, a cloud of smoke appeared on top of the turtle's shell revealing a jounin making a ridiculous pose that wouldn't appeal to anyone. (AN: I have to love this part in the anime. It's funny every time I watch it.)   
  
"Geez, you guys are the epitome of adolescence!" exclaimed Gai still making that pose. Naruto, Hinata and Sakura anime style jaw dropped, eyes widening like saucers, yelping in both absolute shock and disgust. They couldn't believe that was actually a jounin standing in front of them, his appearance alone made Naruto and Hinata lose their usual calm and collected selves. That was something really rare. Gai had even thicker eyebrows than Lee! Not to mention another person with a bowl haircut, it was turning out to be a freak show than an exam.  
  
"ACK!" yelled Naruto pointing at Gai with a twitching hand. "An even lamer guy came!" He totally lost it.  
  
"Yo, Lee" greeted Gai with a slight nice guy pose identical to Lee's. Especially the part that made his teeth shine.  
  
"Super thick brows… super bowl cut…" mumbled Sakura with most utter disbelief.  
  
"Those eyebrows are incredible…" added Hinata with the identical emotion. "I've never seen such a thing before…" Lee heard those comments behind his back, a sense of irritation popped into his head.  
  
"HEY!" shouted Lee turning around clenching a fist tightly. "Stop insulting Gai-sensei!"  
  
"To hell we won't!" snapped Naruto still losing his cool completely. "You freaks just keep appearing, how the hell do you expect us to react?"  
  
"What did you say…" questioned Lee in a threatening way anime style.  
  
"That's enough, Lee." said Gai to his student telling him to shake it off.  
  
"Sir." replied the thick brow genin obeying without question.  
  
"You…" Gai then formed a fist forcefully. "You fool!" He yelled giving Lee a direct punch in the face which sent him soaring at least 10 feet closer to Team 7. The trio watched in disbelief with anime style shock, they couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Lee fell face first to the ground, Gai walked to him and kneeled down to his level as Lee started to get back up. "Lee… you're, you're…"  
  
"Sensei…" said Lee completely touched.  
  
"Lee!" The background changed into a sunset and the atmosphere was now on a beach. The jounin had tears flowing down his face passionately.  
  
"Sensei… I…"  
  
"It's okay, Lee, you don't have to say anymore. I undeerstand." The two were only 4 feet or so from each other.  
  
"Sensei!"  
  
"Lee!" The two then passionately hugged one another like father like son. Then an ocean wave came from the background making the scene even more 'dramatic'. This definitely disturbed the trio to no end. Naruto's eyes were blank and twitching non stop. Sakura looked even more shocked with her mouth mumbling something that didn't even sound like words while Hinata couldn't stop her eyebrows from constant twitching. Her eyes were blank anime style as well, all three were very disgusted. "I lost to him?' thought the heiress in disbelief.  
  
"Yes, that's what youth is all about!" exclaimed Gai hugging his student.  
  
"That… situation couldn't be that bad… it's good stuff…" said the Death Knight forcing a grin.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about!" shouted the girls choking him. "That's dangerous, way too dangerous!" Naruto somewhat regretted what he just said.  
  
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai breaking the hug but still put his hand on the genin's shoulder. "Youth and mistakes go together, just forget about it." He still had tears flowing down his face.  
  
"You're too kind, sensei." said Lee with watery eyes and sniffing dues to Gai's great mercy.  
  
"Now, we will run 100 laps to the sunset!" The jounin then pointed to a random direction.  
  
"Yes, sensei!" exclaimed Lee supportively. The direction where Gai was pointing was now conveniently a sunset. Gai looked back to his student with his trademark smile with teeth shining. Lee wiped the tears off his face and smiled proudly as well, his teeth also glittered. "Let's go!" The duo started to walk away, leaving Team 7 dumbfounded.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute!" said Hinata no louder than a whisper. "We're still here!" The team finally snapped out of it.  
  
"The chunnin exam begins in less than half an hour, there isn't enough time." reminded Sakura.  
  
"Oh yeah…" said Gai scratching the back of his head. "I forgot about that." The three fell back anime style. Gai then coughed. "Lee, your punishment for revealing a forbidden technique will take place after the exam."  
  
"Hai!" replied Lee with a salute.  
  
"Now, run 500 laps!" shouted the jounin with another ridiculous pose. Lee just answered enthusiastically surprisingly enough. 'When will this nonsense end?' thought the Death Knight dully with a sweatdrop. 'How does Neji-nissan put up with these two anyway?' asked Hinata to herself in her head.  
  
"So," said Sakura breaking the awkward silence. "Who's that turtle?" Both Naruto or Hinata weren't in a mood to answer anything. There were just too many scenes that they saw today that they never expected to see in their life. It was certainly intriguing. Gai glanced over to Team 7 with a straight face. 'Those are Kakashi's kids…' he thought. Sakura noticed his glance and panicked. "He's looking our way!" she shouted making a barrier.  
  
"You three," called Gai. "How's Kakashi-sensei doing?"  
  
"You know Kakashi?" asked Naruto calmly.  
  
"Know him?" The thick brow jounin chuckled with his hand holding his chin. "People refer to us as… Eternal Rivals."  
  
"That sounds so fake!" exclaimed the girls in unison. Naruto on the other hand observed Gai closely for the first time for the past 10 minutes. He should've observed him sooner but he was too much in shock to do that. He noticed Gai's clothing was identical to Lee's, the green jumpsuit, the forehead protector on his waist, they were alike. If it wasn't for Gai's jounin vest, Naruto might not be able to recognize them. 'This guy must be another taijutsu specialist…' thought Naruto. 'I can tell he's even stronger than Lee.'  
  
"What are you saying?" questioned Lee. "Gai-sensei is really amazing!"  
  
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai calmly. "Actions speak a lot louder than words." He then smiled again but the Death Knight eyed him closely. The two were standing there at first but after he blinked an eye, only Lee was there. Naruto immediately drew his blade and pointed behind him accurately at where Gai appeared. Hinata and Sakura felt his presence 1 second later, their eyes twitched at that speed. If that was a real life battle, they knew they would've been killed.  
  
"When did he…" whispered Sakura in slight fear.  
  
"He's fast…" added Hinata turning around slowly.  
  
"Looks like someone isn't too surprised at my speed." stated Gai as he looked down at Naruto. The Death Knight's cold eyes didn't leave the jounin's for a second. Once he knew Gai wasn't going to do anything, he withdrew his runeblade and lowered it. "My record is 50 wins and 49 losses. You can say I'm stronger than Kakashi." He then did his trademark smile confidently.  
  
"See that? Isn't Gai-sensei incredible?" exclaimed Lee that discouraged the three even more. 'Better than Kakashi?' though Hinata as those words kept repeating in her head. 'This guy isn't bluffing…'  
  
"Please forgive Lee for what he did earlier for the sake of my face. This refreshing face that is, I swear that this incident wouldn't happen again. Now you three should head to the classroom with Lee, the exam is about to begin." He then tossed a kunai at the needle that nailed Lee's bandage, it knocked it away so it would fall to the ground. Naruto took a glimpse of Lee at took a closer look at Lee's visible hand. He was shocked to see it was all bruised, cut and several stitches were on it as well. It was crapped up beyond imaginable. "Lee, I'll catch you later!" Lee replied energetically as he wrapped his hand back up. Gai and the turtle then suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving the 4 genins there.  
  
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san," called Lee seriously. The two mentioned people looked at Lee right into the eyes with a sense of competition. "Let me say one last thing before I leave. In truth, I have come here to test my abilities." Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit in anger. "Also, I lied a little earlier about myself. The most powerful genin in Konoha is most likely on my team, he's Hyuga Neji." Hinata then felt a little uneasy at what he just said. "I have entered this to defeat him. A dropout will defeat a genius with hard work, and you two are also my targets." The duo just smirked but the Hyuga heiress showed a bit of worry. "Be prepared for the exam, I wish you three luck!" With that cleared, Lee jumped back to the balcony and took off. The three stood there in silence until they no longer felt the taijutsu specialist's presence.  
  
"Naruto-nichan, are you worried about this?" asked Sakura concerned.  
  
"A little… that guy just beat Hinata-chan…" replied the silver hair shinobi with a little irritation.  
  
"I held back, Naruto-kun…" said Hinata honestly. "Was Lee-san that strong?"  
  
"Did you two see his hand?" questioned the Death Knight. The girls then thought back and once they remembered it, their eyes twitched with anxiety. "Lee must have trained really hard for this. Day in, day out… sadly to say, he might've trained more than you two. He's definitely a worthy rival."  
  
"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata hugging his arm for comfort due to the feeling of inferiority. "Do you think we would do well on this chunnin exam?"  
  
"Are we strong enough to take this?" asked Sakura lacking confidence.  
  
"Yeah, we are," said Naruto holding them both close to him. "Don't let minor setbacks break you. Success can only be achieved during hard times. Whatever difficulties we face, we face it as a team. Together we are one." The girls then nodded with a blush on their faces as Naruto gave them a positive smile. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, let's do this." Team 7 then headed to the third floor to room 301 where the real deal awaited them. They showed no fear whatsoever. They entered confidently without worries. At this point, it was succeed in unity or together they fall. There was no turning back now.   
  
AN: (Drag myself back in a nearly crippled state to headquarters.) MEDIC, I need a medic… help me… I don't think I can make it, sir… that last shot was critical, I can't go on! (Vomits more blood due to severe injury.) Oh, I see that you readers are still here…(cough)… man, aren't you all loyal, I'm really glad. How did you like my chapter, was it good? Bad? Whatever you guys think, I would appreciate it if you give me a small comment or review to make this story improve. I don't want to make a crappy story for people to make fun of after all. THANK YOU all so much for people who wrote some comments, you guys told me you want this story to be better. I don't have time to thank all of you but you guys know who you are. The next chapter would be out in a several days, please hang in tight! Now if you all will excuse me, I got a battle to attend to. (Takes the 9mm Assault Rifle and grenades but collapses due to exhaustion.) This sucks… see you all again soon… if I could get some medical attention that is… (Spits out more blood before fainting) 


	11. United We Stand

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 11: United We Stand_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Warcraft 3! If I did, I won't be stuck in this deadly mission! Man, I really don't cherish my life don't I?

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

(...): Scene Change or Author's Notes

**AN: (Shoots down an enemy soldier with an M-249 and walks to him checking if he's alive.) HA, that's right, that's right, that's what you get! (Turns around slightly.) Whoa, I didn't even realize you guys were here... how much did you hear?**

You: Nothing too incriminating, sir...

**AN: Oh, good. Man, this place makes boot-camp seem like Disneyland... this mission is way beyond FUBAR. July 20th... missions have been quite a success... well in terms of me getting shot that is. I have an incredible record in getting shot with 9mms (Glock and Assauly Rifle), 12mms (Turrets), .357 (Magnum and Desert Eagles, 556(M-249), 762(Sniper Rifle), Assault Shotguns... the medics don't even understand how I'm still alive. Those who thought there were hot medics, I'm not sure what I should say. My ideal medic would of course be Hinata, her healing could make any injury of mine recover. Anyway, under these heavy circumstances, I managed to continue this chapter. Before my chapter begins, have you seen any other soldiers from my platoon? If you haven't seen them, I'm going to look for them and make sure they live. I need them just as much as they need me. _(Takes the M-249 and leaves)_ I hope I come back to see all of you again!**

**More AN: Before I leave for now or forever, some readers had some questions for me. I'll gladly answer them now since... well... I'm a 'nice' guy who wants you all to understand more about my story. Man, this entire operation is outta control! Anyway, scratch that and I hope you understand the plot better. _(Dashes off to the battlefield and attacks anything hostile. IF you don't want to be on my hostile list, I suggest you do things right)_**

Question and Answer Period again:

1Q: How strong is Naruto? Is he holding a lot back?

1A: To be completely honest, his power is beyond imaginable. He has been holding a hell lot back, the reason is of course there is no need for him to show off anything since no one is that worthy for him to use it on. If you want a little more detailed description, I'll say he is a decent challenger to Itachi but still not good enough to beat him. Rin is only slighter weaker than Naruto.

2Q: Are these kids too mature?

2A: Personally, in almost all anime series, the characters are at least 2 to 3 years more mature than their age. I suppose I would apply the same principle here. So, even though Naruto is only 12 turning 13, he has a mind of a 17 year old since his harsh life has made him see in a lot more different perspective. Hinata, she always has been more mature in the anime and her affections were always genuine. It's rare to see a 12 year old to have such deep and passionate feelings for a person, I already assumed she had maturity of a 15- 16 year old girl.

3Q: Is Rin a chunnin?

3A: The answer is, yes she is. She became a chunnin right after she returned to her home village. Why didn't Naruto take it with her, well read the previous chapter thoroughly and the answer would be there. Anyone who believed I made a mistake or they read wrong, I'll say it again. Rin is a chunnin!

4Q: Will the story follow the same storyline? Like will Orochimaru show up?

4A: I will say that Orochimaru will show up for being a jackass that he is. The thing is, I'm not going to tell you if he's after Sasuke or Naruto or even if the two teams work together to take him down. The result may be different so please be patient, I know you all can.

5Q: Is there a reason why I always get shot and live?

5A: If I died, who would be sad? (I'll safely assume no one raised their hand) Anyway, if I died there will no longer be story, that's simple. As a soldier, you have to know that I always need medics, friendly soldiers, weapons, friendly fire (that's not a good thing!), enemies and not to mention medical attention. I get shot because I can seriously become a pain in the ass for a lot of people. For the enemy, that's a good thing. To my friends... man, I see why they show no hesitation to shoot me especially when I wiped out half the squadron on purpose. I really deserve to get killed. My record should say something like this.

Subject: OpposingForce

Rank: Corporal

Status: Executed

Reason: Subject failed to utilize human assets in achievement of goal. (That's a real nice way to hide the truth!)

**_(In Room 301)_**

As Team 7 entered room 301, Naruto was surprised at the amount of people there. However, at the same time these numbers scared Hinata and Sakura. There were over 200 genins in this room, all of them had an frustrated expressions across their faces. Their eyes showed nothing but fury, if Naruto wasn't in front of them, the girls could've sworn they would've fainted. The Death Knight could sense the chakra levels in this room was extremely high, a lot higher than usual. If Gaara was in this room, which he was, that would've explained it. Even so, the chakra signatures were quite higher than Naruto expected. This wasn't the chunnin exam for nothing. At this moment, Naruto was still amazed at the numbers, this meant more competition. To the girls however, their chances of succeeding has dropped.

"Hey!" called a voice to Team 7. Hinata turned around just to see a boy with a short ponytail was walking towards them. "You guys are taking this too? Man, this is so troublesome..."

"It's good to see you, Shikamaru-kun," greeted Hinata with a smile. Shikamaru politely smiled back.

"Likewise, Hinata. Have you realized that this place has a lot of freaks than it should be?"

"I realized..." replied Hinata trying not to insult anyone. Two other people then approached Team 7, one girl with long beautiful blond hair and a chubby boy with a bag of chips. Their appearance caught Naruto's attention.

"Sakura-chan, who are these people? I can only remember Ino..." asked Naruto eyeing the three strangers.

"I forgot you were only here at the genin exam," said Sakura. "That was like 2 months ago. Okay, Naruto-nichan, this is the idiot trio." Shikamaru gave Sakura a slight glare, Naruto simply grinned.

"I told you not to call us that, Sakura!" barked Shikamaru annoyed.

"Fine, I'm sorry." It didn't take a genius to know that she didn't mean that. She quickly looked at her brother. "Okay, this is Nara Shikamaru. A lazy bum who complains about anything and everything in life like an old geezer. Yep, a boring guy who thinks everything is too troublesome." Sakura finished with a giggle which earned another glare from Shikamaru. The pink hair girl shrugged it off while the Nara boy thought it was a pain in the ass to continue. Then, Sakura pointed to the boy with the bag of chips. "That, my big brother, is Akimichi Chouji. I'm not going to say too much but you can obviously tell that he loves to eat more than he likes to train. He's also Shikamaru's best friend." Chouji snorted in annoyance, this didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

"Akimichi... this name sounds familiar..." said Naruto trying to recall something in his head. However, he tossed that thought away when he saw the girl who was looking at him shyly with a blush. He decided to lighten up the atmosphere by some sort. "She's... Ino, right?"

"Yep!" exclaimed Ino happily. "I'm Yamanaka Ino, there's no need for that forehead girl to introduce me, I can do it myself."

"Hey, I'm doing you a favor by helping you, Ino!" snapped Sakura.

"You're just going to make insults like you did to my Shikamaru and Chouji! Fat chance, forehead girl!"

"Forehead girl? You should watch yourself, Ino-pig!"

"Sakura-chan, let Ino do her thing..." said Naruto a little bit irritated.

"You're so nice!" said Ino wrapped her arms around his neck immediately. "You are so much better than that forehead girl over there!"

"That forehead girl happens to be my sister, Ino."

"Really?" asked Ino very surprised. "Sakura, you never told me this blind person was your brother. What other secrets don't I know?"

"We aren't biological siblings, Ino," answered Naruto with a grin. "We are just very, very close friends."

"Get your hands off him, Ino-pig!" screamed Sakura demandingly. Hinata giggled at Sakura's act but soon felt jealous as she saw Naruto allowing Ino to do what she was doing.

"So, is there anything about you that I should know?" asked the Death Knight to Ino.

"Of course there is," replied the blond hair girl. "You should know that I am more beautiful, smarter and more charming that my rival Sakura over there! My only goal now is to claim Sasuke-kun. Of course, if I can't get Sasuke-kun, I'm more than willing to know you better."

"I'm glad you want to know me more, Ino-san."

"You can call me Ino-chan if you want."

"Fine, Ino-chan... I will be glad to know you better as well." Ino then broke the embrace with him but still whispered something into his ear. Naruto chuckled at that, Hinata and Sakura were curious at what she just said.

"Ino, what did you just say to Naruto-nichan?" questioned Sakura angrily.

"Nothing, I was just saying how big and ugly your forehead was when you were a girl. Naruto-kun here happened to find it very funny." explained Ino with a grin. Hinata giggled while the pink hair girl was enraged.

"Ugly? How dare you call me ugly! What did you mean you were the prettier one just now? Naruto-nichan, tell me who is the prettier one, me or Ino-pig! Stand up for your little sister!"

"Don't you have a nice way of asking others for their support, Sakura." teased Ino. "Naruto-kun, just say what's in your heart, you and I both know who the prettier one is."

"Is there a way for me to get out of this?" asked Naruto wanting an objection, he couldn't believe what kind of situation he was actually in. The girls shook their heads which made Hinata giggle even more. This conflict was another event that would either resolve in getting a punch or a kiss in the face. However, this time around neither answer would satisfy them both. If he said Ino was better looking, Sakura would punch him to the wall causing a major dent. If he chose Sakura... who knew what Ino would do. The Death Knight then glanced over at Shikamaru and Chouji's faces, they strongly advised him to pick Ino. It wasn't because they wanted to support their teammate, it was more like an ballistic Ino wasn't someone that anyone could control. The two girls stared at Naruto with demanding eyes along with a strong sense of authority. They wanted an answer and they wanted it now.

"I think..." said Naruto nervously swallowing very hard. "I think Hinata-chan is a lot prettier!" He finished the last part very quickly. Suddenly, he realized what he just said but it was just a little too late. 'What the hell did you just say, you idiot!' cursed the Death Knight to himself. 'I'm so going to get it...' Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms encircling around his neck passionately. He could recognize that feeling anyday.

"You're so nice to me." Said Hinata giving the boy a soft kiss on the cheek. Sakura was dumbfounded at Naruto's answer while Ino smirked a victorious smirk.

"Looks like Naruto-kun likes Hinata-san, well, you and I both know who Naruto-kun would've picked me, ne, Sakura?" teased Ino triumphantly.

"You're going to regret that!" retorted Sakura as the two girls began a girly fist fight. Shikamaru and Naruto sighed in most relief. Hinata didn't care and still hung on to the Death Knight as if he was the most important thing in the world. In reality, he was to her.

"Nice save, Naruto." said Shikamaru relieved.

"Looks like my skills of improvisation really paid off today..." replied Naruto equally glad.

"Yeah? Man, I sure wish you were on my team."

"Because I beat Sasuke?"

"No, it's just that Ino has been really bugging me lately ever since we are on the same team. She's like Shikamaru this, Shikamaru that... she worries too much about me as if she has nothing better to do."

"If Ino-chan always worries about you, she must care for you a lot."

"Ino? No way, ever since we were kids she likes to do troublesome things around me... there is no way Ino cares that much about me. She likes Sasuke."

"Maybe she's just too shy to admit it to you. Maybe she just doesn't want to accept the fact that she likes you, I think she's just using Sasuke as an addict for something she doesn't want to deal with."

"Am I that hard to deal with?" asked the lazy genin very dully.

"I don't know, I don't know you well enough to be the judge of that. But women aren't that hard to understand. You just have to think a little bit more underneath the underneath." replied Naruto.

"Having two girls on your team must've been a great help, hasn't it?"

"You think it's great? It does has its drawbacks." stated Naruto which earned a look from the Hyuga girl. The Death Knight glanced at her and terror sweated, he realized he just said something that he really shouldn't have.

"Drawbacks?" questioned Hinata sweetly. He sensed all the wrath behind it. "Whatever did you mean by that?" Shikamaru looked at Naruto who was trying to get out of the embrace as quick as he could. However, Hinata was holding on to his neck a little bit tight causing the boy's efforts to be in vain. Hinata sounded so sweet, then Shikamaru realized what was going on. It was like how Ino would act but based on the fact Hinata was always so shy and innocent (AN: She is really not that innocent in this story, for those who think she is, you are a lot denser than I thought!), coming from her was frightening.

"Nothing, Hinata-chan... I didn't mean that..." justified Naruto trying to be emotionless.

"Is that true?" she asked innocently while she allowed her fingers to do the talking. She touched his neck softly and passed it gently with her fingers like a vampire would. Then she pulled his head a little closer so her mouth would be next to his ear. "God... I want to eat you..." she whispered seductively into his ear. The Death Knight then started to experience something he hasn't experienced in a long time, fear.

"You... don't mean that do you, Hinata-chan?"

"I mean every word my sweet Naruto-kun..." The Death Knight began to tremble, this was something he never got used to.

"Looks like I'll leave you two alone now," said Shikamaru walking away.

"Wait!" shouted Naruto reaching out his hand desperately. "We were still talking! Let's finish it first!" Then he felt the Hyuga girl swooning over him claiming him away from what he was trying to do. Naruto looked at the girl with the most fear, her eyes were seductive, she wanted him all to herself.

"Hey, Hinata-san." called a very familiar voice. Hinata groaned in a little bit of annoyance knowing her fun was ruined. Even so, she put on the brightest smile on her face and loosened her grip knowing it was Sasuke who called her.

"Sasuke-kun," said Hinata releasing herself off her freaked out beyond imagination boyfriend. She then saw Team 8, the team with three males. The Death Knight then silently went to the wall and leaned against it with his arms crossed avoiding anymore human contact. Sakura didn't hesitate at all to go to her brother's side and stood next to him without words. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you for a while."

"C'mon," said the Uchiha with a chuckle. "I saw you three days ago. Oh yeah, how is that Mist-nin Haku doing? Is he awake yet?"

"Not yet," replied the heiress sadly. "Naruto-kun has been quite down ever since Haku-san arrived..."

"You should cheer him up, shouldn't you?"

"I want to... I want his pain and worries turn into pleasure... I can't bear to see him like this..."

"Pleasure and joy?" asked the Uchiha raising an eyebrow. "I think that would be a little hard... Naruto seems to be a real hard person... the things that make him depressed can only be healed if those things could repair themselves. As long as Haku is unconscious, I know Naruto would still search for the most optimistic way to deal with things. Hinata-san, I think what Naruto needs is some space to think on his own..."

"I think he needs my company, he always have been feeling better with me around. I really want him to experience happiness, I want to be with him..."

"I think giving him some space would be better... I could refer myself to him very well. You know we should ask Naruto himself."

"Fine, but don't make it so direct, okay?" Sasuke nodded and dragged his friend to her other two teammates who were talking silently as if they didn't want anyone else involved. When Naruto saw Sasuke, he gave him a grin and the Uchiha gave one back in return. "Naruto, I have something to ask you."

"Can I be part of this conversation too?" asked Sakura hopefully. Hinata and Sasuke then nodded.

"I want to ask if your relationship partner is depressed, what would you do to make him/her feel better?" asked Hinata. "What would you two pick?" Hinata was hoping that her boyfriend would pick the right choice.

"That's easy," said Sakura.

"The choice that I'm going to pick is," added Naruto.

"Stay close with them."

"Give them space." finished the Death Knight without much emotion. "Why would I want anyone to be near me when I'm upset?" Sasuke immediately went to Sakura who was looking at her brother in disbelief. 'Naruto-nichan, what are you doing?' screamed Inner Sakura. 'Naruto... if you die, I hope you have a good funeral...' added Sasuke in thought.

"Give you space, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata in a very mutual voice holding her hands together shyly. The Death Knight looked at her while rolling his eyes somewhat in exhaustion. He knew that voice too well.

"What did I say wrong?" he asked a little directly.

"Fine, whenever you're upset I won't kiss you or hug you or even talk to you since you love your space." Hinata blurted out softly but Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto sensed the other feeling behind it.

"Suit yourself, Hinata-chan," said Naruto as he took out his novel from his pouch. Hinata could feel her eyes tear up by hearing those words, her boyfriend really wasn't the warmest person she knew but never this cold. However, she could hear him chuckling. "I'll make you a bet, Hinata-chan,"

"What bet?" she asked timidly.

"I bet that you'll not follow the words that you just said."

"I meant every..." Hinata stopped when she saw a very dark grin coming from the boy. She stopped arguing, she knew she would never have the heart to leave his side and not do a thing to help him feel better. She pouted immediately, Naruto immediately tugged her close to him and laughed. Sasuke and Sakura sighed in relief, they thought a emotional riot would occur, they were glad that it didn't happen. The duo soon looked at Naruto, their faces turned serious when they saw the expression the Death Knight had, he was observing something. Sakura and Sasuke quickly followed what the boy was watching, he was watching the crowd. The mood on everyone's faces were filled with frustration, anger, irritation, annoyance and nervousness. Come to think of it, that was the look they had ever since they stepped into the room.

"Hey, you guys!" called out somebody to the rookie 9. "Do you seriously think this is like a fellowship of some kind? Geez, you guys are acting like a bunch of school girls after their secret crush or something." The Death Knight glanced at the tall male with glasses, his glance turned into a suspicious stare in a matter of seconds. This guy's chakra levels were way too high to be a genins. He knew that Neji and Sasuke had incredible amount of chakra and skill... but this guy was another level. Based on what Naruto just sensed, he had enough skills to be a jounin. Naruto decided to keep a close eye on him.

"Who are you anyway?" asked Ino. "Who are you to tell us what to do?"

"Before I answer that, why don't you look at the people behind you." The rookie nine took a glimpse at the room, everyone sweated in slight fear other than Shino, Sasuke and Naruto who remained emotionless. The expression the crowd gave certainly weren't a pleasant one. There was a band of people who had the worst looks. "Those are people from the Hidden Village of Rain, they are very short tempered. I advise you that to be real careful when you're around them."

"Why are those people giving us such cold stares?" asked Sakura confused. A lot of them had that same question in their minds, somehow, Naruto understood.

"You nine must be the fresh rookies from the academy. Like previously mentioned, this chunnin exam isn't something that's easy. A lot of people have failed it more than once and right now, they are really nervous. It's only natural for people to have a sense of tension before it. I'm warning you ahead so you won't get picked on later. I guess it can't be helped since you are rookies who don't know anything. You nine really remind me of my old self when I was younger."

"We don't need you to baby us like that, little human." spat Naruto giving a glare.

"You sound like a real know-it-all," said Sasuke. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto," said the tall male. "Yes, you're right on the know-it-all part."

"Kabuto-san," said Sakura. "Is this your second time?"

"No," Kabuto answered. "This is my seventh time." Shikamaru and Naruto both raised an eyebrow with doubt. It wasn't that they didn't believe that this was his 7th time, it's the fact that why this is his 7th time. "This exam takes place every half a year, making this my fourth year."

"Does this mean you know a lot about the exam?" asked Sakura happily. Naruto on the other hand never ceased that glare he had. Hinata caught on rather quickly.

"So you must be an expert at this!" added Ino.

"Expert?" questioned Shikamaru with a bit of suspicion. "If he's so called the expert, why hasn't he passed? Really, if he did he wouldn't be here." The Death Knight paid very close attention to Shikamaru's words, all of them were correct.

"Yeah, that's right..." said Kabuto scratching his head with a chuckle. The silver hair shinobi's suspicion grew. This Kabuto person was mysterious. 6 times? He failed 6 times, that was impossible. Naruto did believe this chunnin exam wasn't an easy thing to accomplish but his eyes never failed him. He sensed his chakra was great, he should've passed the exam without much hassle.

"Is the chunnin exam actually that hard?" asked Shikamaru. "Man, this is turning to be a pain in the ass."

"Was it hard for you, Kabuto-san?" asked Naruto suddenly not looking at him but with a smirk. The remaining 8 gave Naruto a confused look.

"Yeah, to a certain extent I think it was." replied the male casually as if he was prepared for this kind of question. Naruto then opened his eyes with a icy stare.

"Are you so certain?" asked the Death Knight leaning a bit closer as he pierced into Kabuto with his eyes alone.

"If I failed so many times, it's gotta be hard."

"Or did you choose to fail?" The remaining rookies raised an eyebrow at that question, however some weren't that oblivious. Hinata, Sakura and Sasuke knew he did that for a reason. The Hyuga girl paid close attention to her boyfriend's eyes, the three soon realized what was going on. Naruto believed this guy was untrustworthy. The enthusiastic Sakura earlier now shared the exact same cold eyes as Naruto, the three definitely trusted Naruto's judgement. "Kabuto-san," continued the Death Knight breaking that silent tension. "After 3 years of experience, there's nearly no way that you could fail that many times. Are you a demented retard with no talent? You don't look like one to me or your instructor wouldn't nominate you this many times. However, I really don't see why he would spent so much time on a failure like that could fail 6 times. Is there something in this exam that you need and no one could know about it so you choose to fail all the time? Are you hiding something from us? Is there something that you can't expose to the light?"

"Well, no one chooses to fail."

"Really? Don't you sound prepared to tell me that." Hinata smirked a little to herself, she knew nothing could hide from Naruto.

"Hey, in the end it's the Hokage and the other judges to decide whether they believe a certain individual has what it takes to be a chunnin. I can't simply argue with them if they don't think I have the skills to be one. Trust me, if I begged for it, they would have a good reason to not allow me to claim that title anytime soon."

"Fair enough, why are you here?"

"I was just thinking that I could share some info with you cute rookies."

"What's the catch?" asked the Uchiha male. Kabuto then chuckled.

"There's no catch at all." He replied with a smile.

"Really?" asked Hinata coldly. "I could hardly wait." The Death Knight caught the sarcasm in her voice, he knew that his personality was rubbing off her. Then Kabuto took out a stack of cards out of his pouch. "What are those cards?"

"These aren't just your normal every day cards, they are nin-info cards."

"Nin-info cards?" asked Shino emotionlessly.

"In more simple terms, these are cards that has information saved in it using my chakra. I've collected information on this exam for the past 4 years, there are around 200 cards total." A smirk then came across Naruto's face, he found the answer he needed.

"Why?" asked Sasuke coldly. The Death Knight was impressed with his sharpness, not to mention Sakura.

"So I could review on the exam and watch out for any mistakes that I made."

"Think twice before answering me," ordered Sasuke. "You still failed with or without these cards. Tell me the real reason why you're collecting them." Sakura gave a grin to her long time crush, maybe now not really a crush but her admirer. Both were thinking the same thing, this guy was strange. The remaining 5 rookies stared at Sasuke with most confusion, they didn't understand why he did that.

"I'm collecting these cards so I would know what kind of people I should be expecting to face." answered Kabuto calmly.

"So what you're saying is that you have info on the people here?" asked Sakura.

"That's what I'm saying, I know it's cheating a little but nobody said that life was fair. In a ninja world, there's no such thing as fair game you know." That's the most logical thing Naruto has heard all day. However, Kabuto's wisdom also brought on more doubt. "Is there someone that you're interested in?"

"Yeah, there is one," said Hinata.

"Make that two," finished Naruto.

"Who do you want to check on, miss?" asked Kabuto kindly.

"Rock Lee from Konoha," replied the Hyuga heiress firmly.

"And I want to check on Gaara of the Sand." added the Death Knight.

"You have their names too, that shouldn't be too difficult." Kabuto said with a smile. Wait for a moment..." The older genin then generated chakra into the cards and swiftly drew 2 cards out of his deck. He placed the two cards on the ground so all the genins could see. "Okay, let's start with Rock Lee. He's a genin from Konoha and he's one year older than you guys. He has completed 18 C-missions and 28 D ones. His taijutsu has raised over the charts this year while his other abilities aren't all that impressive. Last year, he was regarded as a very talented shinobi by his peers and instructors. Even though he is one year older, he didn't participate in the exam last year. Like you guys, this is his first time. His sensei is Maito Gai and his teammates are Katase Tenten and Hyuga Neji."

"I see..." said Naruto. "What about Gaara?"

"Let's see now... I'm sorry, I don't have much info on him. He's from the hidden village of Sand. He has completed 10 C-missions and 1 B mission. Wow, I never expected a genin to complete that. His key weapon is that large gourd on his back and his stats and abilities are unknown. His sensei is a mystery person and his teammates are Kankuro and Temari. It also says here that he has completed all his missions without a scratch."

"Without a scratch?" asked Shikamaru. "Who is this guy?"

"Not your average day guy, that's for sure." answered Kiba feeling impressed. Naruto knew this guy wasn't what he seemed, he knew his demonic powers had something to do with it. Even so, he couldn't believe it was that strong to protect him completely. He made a quick note to himself, he must pay 120 focus when he fought him.

"Kabuto, there's one more person I would want you to check." Said Sasuke. "Can you check on Uzumaki Naruto?" 'Why would you want to check on me, Sasuke?' thought the Death Knight curiously. Hinata and Sakura seemed to like the idea. Kabuto agreed to Sasuke's request and drew a card out of the deck.

"Let us see here... Uzumaki Naruto... this is an old record..." said Kabuto. "Did I make a mistake?"

"Old record?" asked Naruto controlling his suspicion in his voice. "What do you mean?"

"This is the old stuff that was about you before you became a Konoha genin," The Death Knight narrowed his eyes in anger. "It says here that you're a Hidden-Nin of all the countries," 'He has info on that I am a Hidden-Nin?' asked the Death Knight in his mind but he wanted to see how much info was on that card. "Your sensei is Jiraiya-sama of the Legendary Three," Everyone gasped other than Hinata and Sakura. It was now understandable how Naruto was incredibly powerful. "Your partner was a girl named Kamishiro Rin, a female shinobi of Air. You left Konoha at the age of 5 due to an unknown reason and until now, you have completed 32 A-missions! 49 B-missions and 16 C-missions." All the genins this time gasped in surprise. Naruto was now irritated, Kabuto had too much information already. Without a second thought, he took out his runeblade and dashed at the older shinobi with much killing intent. Kabuto didn't have enough time to dodge for the Death Knight's left hand was holding his neck real hard while he was prepared to kill him right there.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata as she held on to his hand that was holding the blade. "Stop it!"

"To hell I will!" retorted Naruto now charging his blade with deadly energy. "Prepare to die!" he said with a sense of blood lust. Hinata suddenly feared that voice, it sounded very demonic.

"We're not here to kill him, Naruto-ni-chan!" said Sakura pulling him away from the genin in a helpless grasp. He was lacking the access of air, if he was held for an additional 5 seconds, he would've been killed. Naruto reluctantly released him but destroyed the card that had his info on it. It was burned into ashes with his chakra alone.

The Death Knight gritted his teeth angrily, how did Kabuto get hold of that information? This was highly classified information known to a few people. The Hokage, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Rin were the only people that should know. Not even Hinata or Sakura should know that he was a Hidden-Nin that worked for many countries to build peace negotiations or just to aid them to achieve prosperity. Naruto never recalled telling anyone this, who could've gave Kabuto such information. _'This guy is not trustworthy,'_ was what Naruto continued to tell himself. That guy was a dangerous character in this exam.

"So... what do you guys think?" asked Kabuto as he felt a bit better.

"We think that Naruto is scary..." answered Kiba honestly.

"He didn't mean that, Kiba..." corrected Shino. "He meant the people we just heard about..."

"I still think Naruto is scary!" Shino just mentally slapped himself for trying to understand his friend.

"There are so many strong people in this exam..." murmured Ino very quietly.

"Exactly," answered Kabuto. "Everyone in this room are just like Lee, Gaara and Naruto. They are all the best of the best and most experienced elites from their respected countries and village."

"I'm losing confidence already..." admitted Ino sadly.

"It's a little late to say that now, Ino." said Shikamaru.

_'Naruto-kun...'_ thought Hinata sadly._ 'How much more are you hiding from me? We are together... you can tell me anything, I won't tell a single soul if you say so. Please trust me, believe in me.' _She then observed the remaining rookies, their confidence has certainly fell after hearing these incredible shinobi's abiliies. A taijutsu specialist, a shinobi who never received a single scratch from any missions including a B-rank and lastly a warrior who has completed over 30 A-missions and nearly 50 B ones. The odds were really against them, it wasn't everyday you get to encounter someone that experienced. Being with Naruto for 2 months, Hinata's observing skills have drastically improved, his influence was a lot higher than Naruto imagined.

"Don't worry about it," said Naruto calming down with a grin. "IF your senseis didn't think you guys were up for it, they would never have nominated you on this exam. Trust me, I'm sure that Kurenai-san and Azuma-san are here to send their students or a suicide mission. They have great faith in you, don't disappoint them."

"What about your instructor?" asked Sasuke. "You didn't mention him."

"I'm sure he just sent us here for the sheer fun of it."

"But, Naruto... there are so many strong people out there..." choked Chouji.

"Yeah, it really brings us down..." added Ino.

"Not only that, we are rookies among rookies..."

"Don't give me that load of crap!" ordered the Death Knight harshly. His voice startled everyone in the room. "So what if the people are strong? Do you know why they are strong? That's because they worked hard for it. Are you going to just avoid them and hope to find something easier? If you are, you don't even deserve the name of a genin! That's why we work as a team, the three person team is unity, we face obstacles together and overcome anything that stands in our way. There are just too many things in life we can't avoid, this is one of them. Sure, I am strong but in reality there are plenty of people who are stronger than me. _'Itachi-sempai... you are truly powerful...' _Lee, Neji, Gaara, they're all strong but you don't see Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan or I backing down. We stand or fall together, we face every obstruction with another as a team."

"What if we screw up?" asked Ino.

"What if, what if... look, no one would blame you if you actually tried your best. So quit running away and face it like a real human being would. Have faith in yourself and each other." The Death Knight sighed a little after his long speech, he knew all they needed was a little more encouragement. The people in the crowd then calmed down a little bit after Naruto's words. His choice of words were powerful, it was good enough to wipe out some of the people's fears away. Ino was so relieved that she couldn't help herself to give the Death Knight a passionate embrace. "Ino-chan, what's wrong?" he asked while rubbing her back slightly.

"Thank you so much, Naruto-kun..." she replied with somewhat watery eyes.

"No problem, just don't make Shikamaru too worried, okay? I'm sure he doesn't want to see his beautiful friend cry like that."

"I'm crying because I'm happy," said Ino trying to hide her shade of crimson. Hinata gave her a warm supportive smile while Sakura couldn't believe her rival hugged her brother twice in the same hour. She was enraged. The guys were glad that Naruto lifted their burden but they soon sweatdropped at the scene in front of them.

"Ino-pig!" screeched Sakura. "What the hell are you doing to Naruto-nichan!"

"I was just thanking him..." answered Ino still embracing the boy gently with a blush.

"That's way too close for a thank you!" Sasuke and Naruto immediately sweatdropped without hesitation. 'There is a way too close for a simple gratitude now?' asked the mentioned two males to themselves in unison. Naruto sighed inwardly as the two rival began to argue again. (AN: Now to add some humor! If it's funny, good. If not, well bare with me.)

"He's charming..." said Tenten gazing at Naruto admiringly from afar. "I could fall for that guy."

"Hey Neji," said Lee. "Looks like you have a rival, ne?"

"Hey, it's not like Tenten would just fall in love with a guy who she just met half an hour ago." assured Neji. "Don't worry about it."

"You sure, Neji-kun?" teased Tenten. "I have to say that he's doing a very good job at it."

"Wait, he wasn't talking to you," said Neji surprised. "How could you like a guy who wasn't having a conversation with you?"

"Either were you, you really have no skills with women, not even to your girlfriend." she then pouted.

"C'mon Neji, cheer her up." said Lee in a demand. Neji simply shrugged and ended the conversation. 'Fine, time for the second approach...' "Tenten-chan," cooed Lee to his female teammate.

"Yes, Lee-kun?" responded Tenten with the same sweet emotion. Neji's ears twitched.

"Since Neji here didn't want to cheer you up, I thought I would!"

"Oh really?" asked Tenten dramatically with sarcasm. To the Hyuga genius, it sounded real. "You're so nice to me, Lee-kun!"

"I was hoping that you would go out to a movie with me, then a long walk in the park and silently enjoy the starry night. What do you say?"

"I would love to... but it's the chunnin exam though..." she then pointed her fingers cutely.

"That's such a shame... how about we make out then?" Tenten grinned evilly, she knew at this point Neji would lose it. It was a good thing that Lee was a really close friend of hers, they could really open to another. It was then that Neji lost it, he soon smashed Lee's head with his fist causing a bump.

"Tenten," said Neji rushing to her side immediately. "What ever Lee just offered... I'll make it double!" the female weapon master burst into laughter while Lee secretly did his nice guy pose which went unnoticed and laughed as well. The Hyuga boy could feel his eyebrow constantly twitching for he knew he has been fooled.

"Oh, Neji-kun," said the brown eye girl laughing. "You fall for it every time!"

"So you purposely set up a trap for me to step on?" he questioned.

"Yeah," replied Lee. "This is like the third time that it has happened!" That alone resulted in another punch on the head. "Ow..."

"C'mon Tenten, give me another chance." Neji was begging for forgiveness. The girl just gave him a sinister smile that caused him to drop a terror sweat.

"Of course I would, but there will be a cost to it though." She said a little seductively. Neji gave a gesture for her to continue. "You have to spend more time with me."

"Deal!" said Neji relieved at the low consequences. Meanwhile, the Death Knight signal for immediate help since he needed to get himself out of the conflict the girls were in. Shikamaru and Sasuke took one girl each and separated them from apart. They made sure that the distance was reasonable. Naruto gasped taking a breath of air while Hinata giggled at the look on her lover's face. He looked dead, dead from exhaustion. As soon the conflict was solved, a huge cloud of smoke appeared right in the front of the classroom. As the smoke cleared a bit, there was a figure in the middle with a long black trench coat, his face had two very visible scars that were vertical. Behind him were at least a dozen chunnins.

"Settle down you bastards!" barked the leader of the group. It was clear that that guy was a jounin. "The first part of the exam is about to begin!" 'Finally,' thought the 12 main Konoha genins in unison, they were prepared to take on any obstacle that awaited them, nothing would stand in their way. They knew that as this point, it was together they succeed or together they fall. However, that wouldn't be something that would stop them in achieving their goal. They looked at the jounin, his face certainly surprised some of them. His scars made him look even more intimidating. However, the Death Knight didn't fear him, he looked right into his eyes and snickered darkly. "I welcome you all to this year's Chunnin Selection Exam, I'm your first instructor, Morino Ibiki."

**AN: _(Runs back to take cover with another soldier but he got shot and fell down.)_ Shit, they got Johnny, you bastards! _(Drags the friendly trooper back and lay him down while shooting back desperately)_ You guys are still here? C'mon, it's dangerous out here, get down! I can't believe you all made it to this part alive, am I glad to see you all. Anyway, I heard there's some kind of big stand off at a dam up ahead... it doesn't look like it's going to get better here that's for sure. I bet they could use my help. Before I leave, I hope you all like my story so far, I apologize if it's a little slow in development though. I hope I could do better. Now, if you review this chapter, I will be eternally grateful. Thanks again to all reviewers, I hope my next chapter would be out in another couple of days. (Takes out a grenade and throws it) Damn it, I need backup now damnit, now damnit now! _(Runs out of cover and attacks. Then gets shot by a sniper.) _Shit, I'm hit, I'm hit pretty bad! _(Falls on the ground in a nearly dead state.) _Damn, why does this always have to happen... this sucks...**


	12. Destined to be Worthy or Worthless

DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT  
  
Chapter 12: Destined to be Worthy or Worthless  
  
Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own Naruto or Warcraft3. If I did, the storyline wouldn't be like the ones today. I would just mess it up.  
  
"…": Speech  
  
'…': Thoughts  
  
===: Scene Change  
  
AN: (Comes out of the armory with an Assault Rifle.) Sir, it's good to see another man in uniform. Glad to see all of you here ready to hear the mission briefings for this mission (Chunnin Exam). My missions these days have been quite hell, but I'm not going to talk about it now, let's get to the real deal here. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your honest reviews! I'm glad you all haven't fallen asleep yet on this. Personally, I am quite tired from writing. I'm not sick of it or anything, it's just I am physically really worn out from reality. Eventually I'm going to need a psychologist to research my real problems. Anyway, the chunnin exam is about to begin, I'm so glad that some of you insisted to give me comments and suggestions or even just a sign you want me to keep things up. I really thank you for those who reviewed. You know me, I don't have much time to thank all of you since I am lazy but it's all in the thought and heart that counts right? OW!…That last shot was critical, I don't think I make it sir… (For those who have a problem with me with the soldier attitude, well I don't care that much. It's fun to think like a soldier, maybe I'm just too obssessed with HalfLife Opposing Force.) Here is the next chapter!  
  
"Sorry to keep you all waiting," said the jounin in the middle of the room surrounded by chunnins. "I am your first examiner, Morino Ibiki." 'Morino Ibiki?' thought Naruto narrowing his eyes. 'He's the Special Jounin and the captain of Konoha's Anbu Forces. Even though I don't really know him but why would such an important person like him doing here as a judge for an exam at a mere chunnin level? Even Kakashi could've done this… but I got a strong feeling he would prefer to read Icha Icha Paradise than to do something such as this.' "This gives me a good chance to say this," continued Ibiki coldly. "You aren't allowed to pick fights with anybody during this exam, even though you are given permission, you're not allowed to kill your opponents. It won't be tolerated. If you disobey my rules, then you have to deal with me." Many genins swallowed hard.  
  
"No killing?" question a cocky Sound-nin. "This exam seems way too soft already."  
  
"Shut up!" barked Ibiki harshly. "No one asked you to talk!" The genins were startled at the volume and authority in his voice. This guy meant business. "Before we begin, everyone hand in your registration ID and receive a number that I specifically give you. You will then sit at the place the number designates. A chunnin would then hand out writing supplies and paper." 'A paper test?' thought the Death Knight dully. After confirming as a official participant of the exam, everyone was separated from their teams. 'I'm not with Naruto-kun and Sakura-san any longer…' said Hinata in thought worriedly. 'What am I going to do?'  
  
"Hinata-san," said a familiar voice. The Hyuga heiress recognized that voice immediately.  
  
"Sasuke-kun, hello." greeted Hinata with a smile.  
  
"You okay?" he asked with a grin. "You look like a lovesick puppy without her mate."  
  
"Did I really look like that?"  
  
"I was just teasing you," joked the Uchiha with a soft laugh. "I know you are worried about the fact that you are separated from your team. Don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll do fine."  
  
"Thanks for saying so," said Hinata with a smile on her face. "But I'm worried about Naruto-kun…"  
  
"I'm sure it will be fine."  
  
"No, Naruto-kun was never good at academics since he was a kid… I really don't know if he could do this kind of stuff… this has to be the worst kind of test for him…"  
  
"You should start to worry about yourself a little more than others, Hinata-san," said Sasuke ending the chat. Hinata took a second to think about what her friend just said, he did have a point.  
  
"Now," said Ibiki up front with a sense of coldness in his tone. "For the first test, there will be several important rules that you must know. I will only explain it once and questions will not be allowed so listen carefully." 'No questions?' thought Sakura. 'What's the big idea?' "I'll begin with the grading system. On your exam there are 10 questions, do not turn the test paper over until I say so. Now, if you get all of them right, you will earn your 10 points. Let's assume you completed all of them but you got 3 of them wrong, 3 points will be subtracted from your total score thus making your score to only 7."  
  
"That's only logical…" said Naruto quietly to himself.  
  
"The second rule, the exam's passing mark is a mark that's combined score by all three members of the team." 'What?' thought Hinata and Sakura. 'Great, that's just mighty excellent…'  
  
"What's the passing mark then?" asked a virgin genin.  
  
"How many teams are going to pass this exam?" asked another nervously.  
  
"It's not like telling you would make any difference now is it?" questioned Ibiki. The look on his face made the two genins awkwardly sat back down. "Now that you know, let's move on. If any of the chunnins around the room or myself catch any of you cheating and anything similar to it, 2 points would be deducted for every offence." The Death Knight's smirk came as immediate response. 'So, there's another way to lose points…' thought the Hyuga heiress really concerned. "In other words, there will be people leaving this room without their tests being graded, it's just less work for us in the end." continued Ibiki applying more pressure indirectly but intentionally. 'Calm down, Sakura…' thought the mentioned person. 'Even if one of us mess up here, we can just back each other up…' "And lastly, whoever gets a zero on their exam will be failed along with their teammates!" Most of the genins' eyes widened at the last rule, they didn't like it one bit. 'So much for backing up…' thought Sakura cursing. "Those who cheat without thinking are just destroying themselves. If you are a ninja, act like a proud shinobi would. Okay, the test would last for 75 minutes… begin!"  
  
As soon as the instructions were given out, every participant immediately turned their test papers over to solve the problems. Naruto looked at the very first question, his eyes narrowed a bit. In another case, it narrowed quite a bit. Hinata didn't understand the very first question, she knew she had to move on to the next one. Sakura looked at them carefully, she was surprised at these questions given. 'All these questions are hard…' she thought. 'What in the heck is going on?'  
  
"A chunnin instructor must have completed at least how many missions of all ranks and different degrees in order to be a teacher at the academy. State all needed degrees…" said Hinata reading the question to herself, she frowned. "Not good, next one… differentiate the following equation. (3x9x) to the power of 3, show your work… no, next one… If a kunai was thrown straightly at a 180 degree angle and it reaches a distance of 125m and the Power was 9400W, what was the work being done in Watts? Show your work…" 'This is another hard question…' thought Sakura reading the exact same question as Hinata. 'This is a question that requires a lot of both booksmarts and physical analysis to achieve. In fact, all of them are like that… almost everyone in this room besides myself could answer this. There is no way that Naruto-nichan or Hinata-san would be able to answer these…' Currently, Naruto already filled in 2 questions, some of his experiences in life really paid off. However, the remaining questions he had absolutely no clue. Knowing this was a team score, he knew that scoring only 2 points wouldn't be enough. After reading all the questions, Hinata rested her paper with a very worried expression.   
  
'What am I going to do?' thought the Hyuga heiress. 'I don't understand this, not even one question…' While she was troubled, she decided to pay attention to other things to ease her level of nervousness. Something clicked into her mind when she looked at the chunnins. 'Why are there so many chunnins in this room anyway? It's like they are assuming that we would cheat, they are watching us so carefully like prisoner guards…' Then she glanced at a chunnin and he started to write something down on the clipboard. "Someone has been caught… in a normal test you'll fail as soon as the teacher catches you cheating or attempting cheating once. This is a method that really encourages cheating… hold on!'  
  
=========================  
  
(Flashback)  
  
"Those who cheat without thinking would only be destroying themselves. If you are a ninja, act like a proud shinobi would." These were Ibiki's last words.  
  
(End Flashback)  
  
=========================  
  
'I see now,' thought Hinata with a dark grin. 'This test was never a test to measure our intelligence, this is a test to see how well we gather information using our ninja skills with our teammates. For the first time, Kakashi's words really apply here, a ninja must read what's underneath the underneath. So what the instructor really meant was to encourage us to cheat but don't do it pathetically. At the same time, what is being tested is that you cheat and don't get caught by the chunnins guarding and the people we're cheating from. If my assumption is correct, this lenient two point deduction system actually makes sense. They are actually giving us plenty of opportunities to try but at the same time we can't mess up too many times since this is a team effort. He's really pressuring us not to mess things up. Finally, the zero means failure rule actually is logical. If you cheat so horribly… you only mess up instead of helping.' Hinata then took another glance around the room, she grinned when she saw people started to write when they didn't before. 'So, if this is an information gathering test, there must be at least one person in this room who holds all the answers. It's only a matter of time before the good people show their true colours. Notice this rule, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san. If you don't, this alone would cost you the entire test!' Then the girl sat back and decided to wait a little longer before her next move.  
  
As soon as Hinata decided to wait, a grin came across Naruto's face as he tied his blindfold around his eyes. He indeed already knew what the exam was about, Ibiki's true meaning in his words never hid itself from the Death Knight. His eyes never lied to him, it never failed him. 'Impressive, Hinata-chan,' thought Naruto with a sense of happiness. 'You caught the true meaning of the test already, I'm proud of you. Even so, I wonder how you will achieve your answers though. Sadly enough I don't have the skill to give you the info unnoticed. I'm sure you have the ability to do it on your own. I'll wait longer myself.' As the Death Knight relaxed himself, more and more people were beginning to take action. Meanwhile, Akamaru had been silently barking answers to Kiba since the two understood each other completely. It wasn't the greatest way of cheating but it certainly wasn't illegal and the chunnins couldn't do a thing to stop it. It worked completely to his favor. Shino has sent a scouting bee to observe other people's test and it quietly flew back to its master with all the info he needed. This was truly a remarkable way to getting information, no one would've expected a thing. As Shino began to write down his answers, little did he know he had become a target for someone to cheat from. Tenten had already set up a set of tiny mirrors to the ceiling holding it with invisible strings. The weapons master had a lot of skills with physical objects indeed. As soon as she copied all she needed, she needed to pass it down to her teammate Lee.  
  
'Lee,' thought Tenten. 'If you can see this, please wear your forehead protector.' With that thought, she twisted her fingers a little bit to make the reflection visible to the taijutsu specialist. Lee glanced up to the ceiling and grinned when he saw the info being passed down. He did as Tenten requested and continued what he was doing. It appeared that the real deal started now.  
  
Time passed since the start of this test, it was time for the advanced bloodline eye users to take on decisive action. With a little bit of concentration, the Uchiha, the two Hyugas activated their bloodline ablities. 'Sharingan!' thought Sasuke. 'Byakugan!' thought Hinata and Neji as they saw through the person in front of them and viewed closer to their test paper. With that, the answers were right in front and they could copy no problem. 'I'm copying their movements completely,' thought Sasuke. 'My hand is moving on it's own, I don't need to do anything. I was hoping to catch some of Naruto's attacks but I've already hit the jackpot.' However the Death Knight couldn't activate his ability just yet, a kunai whizzed by his face as he was generating chakra. The kunai struck the test paper of the person behind him but it still the aim wasn't that great not to avoid a deep cut on Naruto's cheek, blood seemed through the cut as an immediate effect, but with Naruto's quick regeneration rate the wound healed itself in seconds. This didn't go unnoticed by Neji or Hinata.  
  
"Hey!" shouted the genin behind Naruto angrily demanding for an explanation. "What the hell was that for!"  
  
"You've messed up 5 times," answered the chunnin with a dark grin. "You fail."  
  
"No… no way!"  
  
"No way? The other two on his team leave immediately. 161, 38 and 74 fail." The other two students reluctantly left the room while giving a bitter look on their teammate who messed up for them. Once they left Naruto did his thing, read other people's minds to achieve the answers he seek. The best person for him to use it on would be his teammate Sakura since he knew she knew everything. It was the perfect time as well for Sakura to write down the answers in a quick pace.  
  
"184 and 49's team fail!" yelled a chunnin.  
  
"215 and 91's team fail too!" shouted another. 'That's 14 teams failing already…' thought the Uchiha as he saw the guy next to him leaving the room. 'It's a good thing that I know what I'm doing…'  
  
"Hey, how do you know that I cheated 5 times?" questioned a male genin holding a fist. "How the hell is it possible for you guys to watch what everyone in this room has been doing? Can you prove that we cheated…" At that point, a chunnin nailed the person to the wall with his elbow in his stomach. He leaned closer to the genin with a sinister smile.  
  
"Listen here, kid," began the higher level shinobi. "Amongst us chunnins, we are the ones specially assembled for this test. Believe me, we haven't missed a thing that you guys have been doing the entire time. If you want proof so much, just say my strength is the evidence you seek." He then released the genin by stepping back. The lower level shinobi then slid down the wall in a defenseless state. A lot of the other participants swallowed hard with fear and nervousness. As soon as Sakura has finished, Naruto attempted to make his move on her. However, he caught a girl looking at his sister with an intent. It was no other than Ino. He decided to change plans, he quickly used his eyes to watch her first. Her thoughts then became audible to his ears.  
  
'Sakura,' thought Ino. 'I have been watching you for some time now, I know the size of your forehead also showed a very high level of intelligence. So, you should feel honoured to be the target of this jutsu.' She then formed a very specific hand seal. 'That seal…' thought Naruto as he quickly made a set of hand seals.  
  
"Mind Transfer-no jutsu!" said Ino quietly as she released the jutsu.  
  
"Anti-Magic Reflector!" said Naruto silently to himself as he launched chakra right at Sakura a second before Ino launched hers. As Ino's spirit approached Sakura, she felt a peculiar disturbance. She felt as if a barrier was stopping her advance. Ino quickly went back to her body and wondered why her technique didn't work. 'Who would been protecting Sakura like that?' thought Ino. 'It must've been her team but Hinata-san… no, it shouldn't be her. Sakura told me that Hinata-san was very good in ninjutsu but there was no way that she could know something that advanced. It must've been Naruto-kun!' Ino formed the seal once again and this time she targeted Naruto. This time around, her move was a success and entered his mind.   
  
=======================  
  
She soon found herself in a dark realm, it felt cold, terrifying and yet mysterious. No one had a mind this, this was beyond what Ino had expected. To be honest, she didn't know if this was Naruto's mind, it seemed so empty, she had never seen anything like this. In order to find out, she decided to scout around this unknown area. She felt kind of awkward for she never needed to take time to take control. However, something held her back, the darkness around her made her scouting in failure.  
  
"Going somewhere, Ino-chan?" asked a voice to Ino.  
  
"Who's there? Show yourself!" shouted the blond hair girl.  
  
"Who do you think it is?" asked the voice again with a bit of sinister chuckling. "You think I'm a ghost?"  
  
"Naruto-kun, I know it's you!" He chuckled again making her shiver to her spine. The environment around her made her feel somewhat horrified.  
  
"You've got good hearing, Ino-chan," complimented Naruto as he snapped his fingers. The darkness brightened revealing the dark shinobi carrying his runeblade in a casual manner.  
  
"Naruto-kun, where am I?"  
  
"You're in my mind, Ino-chan," stated the Death Knight. "I'm guarding this area so people like you won't infiltrate it. It's that simple."  
  
"How is it even possible for you to be in here?"  
  
"Why can't I? This is my mind."  
  
"But I'm suppose to control it, I'm suppose to control you!"  
  
"Is that so? That mere jutsu alone can't take over my mind that easily, Ino-chan. I have ways to counter it, the best you can do is to visit my mind and do nothing more." stated the Death Knight with a grin.  
  
"Then it was you who setup that barrier on Sakura." she said with realization.  
  
"Of course," replied Naruto. "But Ino-chan." He then gave her an evil look. "You sure have a lot of guts trying to mind control Sakura-chan. Let me ask you this, do you value your life?"  
  
"Why do you ask such a weird question?"  
  
"Answer me now." He stated coldly.  
  
"Yes, of course I do!"  
  
"I'll let you think about that answer again. If you really do value your life, you wouldn't even think of possessing me."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Ino. "This is my skill, I know what I'm doing."  
  
"Do you? I wonder how you're going to get out when you don't possess this body to release yourself."  
  
"I still can escape on my own." He then chuckled very darkly. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Not when I'm around." said Naruto pointing his blade directly at Ino.  
  
"What are you trying to do…" said Ino backing away slightly to achieve a bit of distance.  
  
"You want to leave here?" he asked in a mocking tone. She nodded as she hugged herself trying to feel warm. The Death Knight gave her a stare with a smirk as he lowered his runeblade. "Feel free to leave, I'll make you regret for your optimistic judgement a little later." Ino seized the opportunity and made a break for it with a second thought. Naruto just watched her attempt to leave, he didn't care what she did. As far as he was concerned, if the girl stayed here too long, she would die for certain. Naruto decided to make the girl have a little bit of fun before the real games began.  
  
"Death Knight," called a sweet female voice.  
  
"Kyubi-chan, it's good to see you." said Naruto with a smile.  
  
"Naruto, what are you trying to do? Kill her?" questioned the demon master.  
  
"No, just want to teach her a lesson that she'll remember for eternity, I'll show her what she'll receive for coming in this place."  
  
"If you don't want to see her dead, you better do something now."  
  
"I'll check it out when the time comes. She'll be fine."  
  
"The dark spirit within yourself isn't that kind to just let her go." Naruto sighed and agreed with Kyubi. She had a point, the dark veil in his mind would kill Ino sooner or later. He groaned a little bit as he took off to the same direction she went to. Meanwhile, Ino was strangely confused at why the boy allowed her to leave so easily. The feeling she received was like he knew she wouldn't get out as much as she tried. Suddenly, she found herself trapped in a powerful veil, she couldn't escape it. It felt horrifying, the feeling was worse than death itself. She had the urge to vomit, she had the sensation of mental torture. The blond hair girl shook her hands violently trying to erase this horrible feeling, but her attempts were in no avail. 'What the hell is going on here?' she thought as she continued to retaliate as much as she could.  
  
"Need help?" asked the Death Knight he took her hand. As soon as she felt his touch, the veil disappeared. She hugged the boy immediately as if he was the only human here. In truth he was the only human here, he was like the person Ino could depend on, she could rely everything on him. "Ino-chan, it's okay, you're safe." He then rubbed her back gently to calm the girl down, his experiences with Hinata really shined here.  
  
"Naruto-kun… I'm scared…" she said sobbing.  
  
"It'll be fine, you're okay now… come on look at me."  
  
"I'm scared, Naruto-kun, I am afraid of this place… can you hold me a little longer?"  
  
"Sure," he said as he embraced the girl back. She was trembling, Naruto shouldn't have freaked her out like this knowing how emotional girls could be. She hugged him closely as her life depended on it, the Death Knight understood her intentions.  
  
"Ino-chan," called Naruto after a several minutes later. "It's time to leave." With that, the Death Knight broke himself loose from her. Ino tried to reach for him but soon she felt she was being launched away by a powerful force. Her spirit ejected from her body in a blink of an eye. When she opened her eyes once again, she found herself back into her own body. A chill went down her spine as she remembered what just happened in the silver hair warrior's mind, all the experienced kicked in. Ino hugged herself with fear, she tried everything she could to shake off this feeling of uneasiness. 'I can't get this feeling out of me…' thought Ino while shaking. 'It's so terrible… I could feel an aura of death surrounding me… as if it wants my soul… I would rather die than to experience this!' Shikamaru looked over to his blond hair friend, a concerned look came across his face. She was trembling, he knew it wasn't like Ino to be so out of it, it was different. Naruto glanced at Ino from a distance, he was somewhat worried but he shook it off. The dark knight knew the girl wouldn't be that stupid to pull that trick on him twice knowing the consequences.  
  
===========================  
  
Meanwhile, Hinata had copied all the answers she needed off those people who were around her. For the first time, she believed that there were advantages of the Byakugan, it was finally worth something. Cheating was not a big deal at all, it was simply too easy. She took a glimpse at her boyfriend, she knew he activated his eyes since he was wearing that blindfold he frequently wears. 'What is he doing?' she thought. Naruto currently was doing his work this time without any interruptions. He had to say that the people sitting up front had the greatest disadvantage. Their weakness was his strength, there was no way that he would miss this chance. His grin got wider as he continued his progress. Once he achieved all the answers he wanted, he wasted no time to write down the answers he required. He untied his blindfold as soon as he was done, it was then when his eye started to itch. The Death Knight knew this was a trick someone was trying to pull.  
  
'Another fool trying to cheat off me?' Naruto asked himself in thought with most amusement. He then rubbed his left eye with one hand leaving the other one open watching the test paper. 'I'll play along with you for a little longer, my friend.' It was then when an eyeball appeared slightly above the test paper attempting to read off his answers. With his available hand, the Death Knight swiped it and crushed it with full force leaving a small amount of sand in his hand. 'Sand?' he thought curiously as he looked over at a startled Gaara. The red-head glared back with his eyes twitching with rage. 'Hoe dare that guy ruin my technique!' cursed Gaara as he cletched his fist underneath the table. 'He'll pay dearly for this!' Naruto simply smirked and turned away knowing that he prevented another incident. The Hyuga girl witnessed the whole scenario, she couldn't believe Naruto would be so good at this. It was like as if he was prepared for anything that challenged him. He certainly was the person Hinata always wanted to be. She admired him from a far again with dreamy eyes with a little bit of lust. She knew he loved her and she loved him, she couldn't wait until the exam was over so they could spend some alone time with another. The Hyuga girl was getting excited with that thought. Even though Naruto was a very cold shell and not too passionate about romance, she didn't care, she knew he was hers.  
  
"Excuse me," called out a male. That voice broke all of Hinata's romantic thoughts. The heiress looked over to the left, it was the Sand genin, Kankuro.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Ibiki coldly.  
  
"I would like to use the bathroom." The Hyuga girl watched him closely, something was amiss.  
  
"I'll go with you," said a chunnin as he handcuffed the genin and shackled him. He tied a rope around the handcuffs like a leash and dragged him off like a prisoner. As the two passed by Neji, being the keen person he was, he activated his Byakugan. To the two Hyugas in this room, that alone had many flaws to it. First of all, Hinata noticed that the mummy looking object on Kankuro's back was gone. Secondly, the boy seemed too calm when he asked for permission, it seemed to her that he prepared himself ahead of time. Lastly, his willingness to be handcuffed was suspicious, he was smiling brightly the entire time. It was obvious to anyone that he was trying to cheat at that time. The only thing Hinata couldn't get her hands on was the fact how was Kankuro going to cheat if he wasn't in the vicinity. However, Neji held the answers Hinata needed. With he used the Byakugan on the chunnin, he found out he had no chakra organ. It's true that there are people in this world that do not have a lot of chakra to generate within them but everyone has a chakra system inside. Neji could tell that guard wasn't human, it was all in the Sand genin's plan. If that imposter had been sitting there at the entire time writing things down as time passed, he of course wasn't recording like the chunnins were. It was writing down the answers. 'Creative indeed,' thought Neji with a smirk. 'Even though that was good, if that trick didn't get unnoticed by me, I'm sure the other chunnins and Ibiki must've saw through that sooner than I did.'  
  
At the same time, the Special Jounin walked up in front of the classroom with a very authorized face. 'Good, with most of the trash out of the way, I could start the main event.' His eyes caught Neji, Naruto and Sasuke's attention almost immediately. "It has been 60 minutes," announced Ibiki in a loud and clear voice. "We will now begin the 10th question!" All the genins in the room stopped what they were doing and paid close attention. Naruto simply smirked and prepared himself from anything. However, his instincts told him that this wouldn't be that easy. "Now, before I tell you the question, there are some rules that you must know." 'More rules?' thought Sakura annoyed. 'Give us a break already!' "For this question, it's a to take or not to take situation."  
  
"If that's the case, of course we'll take it!" exclaimed Tenten.  
  
"Yeah!" added Lee supporting his friend. Ibiki just chuckled as a response.  
  
"You may say that now but that's because you don't know the rules behind it," said Ibiki with a dark grin.  
  
"More rules?" asked Sakura.  
  
"Then what happens if you choose not to take it?' asked Temari.  
  
"Easy," replied Ibiki coldly. "I will deduct your score to 0 making you and your entire team to fail immediately." Everyone in the room gasped other than those emotionless ones. Even so, they were worried deep inside.  
  
"Just what kind of trickery is this!" questioned Lee angrily.  
  
"If we don't take it and fail, then we'll take it!" added Sasuke. The Special Jounin simply chuckled darkly again making the participants even more confused.  
  
"You may be saying that now, but you haven't heard another rule," explained the instructor with much evil amusement. "If you choose to take this question but answer it incorrectly, you will be forbidden to take the chunnin selection exam again!"  
  
"Just what kind of stupid rule is that?" barked Kiba standing from his seat with Akamaru supporting him. "There are plenty of people here who had took this exam before, they never had a question like this!"  
  
"Yeah, he's right!" shouted a several genins along with Kiba. Ibiki just laughed darkly.  
  
"You guys are unlucky then," said Ibiki in an icy tone. "This year I'm the one in charge, I'm the rules. If you don't want to follow my rules, you can simply not take it. Those who don't have the confidence to take it because the risk is too high, I'll be nice and give you guys a way out. The choice is yours to make but let me remind you again, your lives are based on this decision. If you won't take it, simply raise your hand." With that, the genins engaged a battle within themselves with most confusion and frustration. The room was dead silent.  
  
'If I mess up the question, I'll be a genin as long as I live…' thought Sakura nervously. 'But if I don't take it, I would cause Naruto-nichan and Hinata-san to fail because of my cowardice… both options are bad! I'm sure I could answer it… but could they answer it? What am I going to do?' The pink hair girl kicked herself mentally trying to remain calm. But her mind was too filled with worries to relax. She took a glance around the room just to find it completely silent, no one in the right mind would say a word. The expression on the people's faces told everyone else they were fighting a battle with themselves. Naruto at this moment was quite in trouble on deciding what he should be doing, both results were a costly price he couldn't afford.  
  
'I can't back down now, I told Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan that we face it together as a team… ' thought Naruto in a quarrel with himself. 'I can't just go and be a coward! Not only that I fail, I would drag both my teammates along with me. If they want to take it, I would be the one to blame. But… I don't know what kind of question Ibiki would give me, what if I can't answer it… I might get it wrong and father would never forgive me for being such a failure. On the other hand… father wouldn't be pleased if I just backed down. No, I can't fail at this stage of the game… what can I do?'  
  
"I… I won't take it…" said a genin next to Naruto whose voice was cracking in fear.  
  
"Is that your final answer?" questioned Ibiki. The genin then nodded slowly. "Then the other two on his team leave as soon as your number is called."  
  
"Number 14, 127 and 71 fail." announced the closet chunnin. The other two students certainly didn't look pleased. Even so, their faces told Naruto they weren't too confident either.  
  
"I won't take it either!" shouted another raising his hand.  
  
"Me too!"  
  
"Same here!" More and more hands were raised, the chunnins scratched off their numbers without hesitation and willingly kicked them out. There were now around half the people remaining before the 10th question was given. The room was still silent but many people still showed signs in insecurity. Ibiki knew they were struggling, he couldn't help but grin at these genins. Hinata then looked at him, she was surprised that the jounin was watching Naruto with a peculiar look. She decided to observe him closely. However whatever Ibiki did didn't stun Hinata as much as what she witnessed just now, Naruto was raising his hand. Sakura, Sasuke, Neji and Hinata were shocked. The girls couldn't believe that their admirable teammate fell into Ibiki's words. No, they couldn't accept it, Naruto was too strong to let this happen. The girls covered their mouth with their hands, gasping at what the Death Knight was doing. Sasuke and the remaining Konoha genins were also shocked at that sight.  
  
'Naruto,' thought Sasuke. 'Don't tell me that you're going to quit after how you helped us earlier…' 'Naruto-kun,' said Lee in his mind. 'I want to fight you in the next test, you can't back down now!' 'For someone who Hinata-sama admires,' thought Neji coolly. 'You aren't worth it be admired if you're going to quit.'  
  
"What's the matter?" asked Ibiki to Naruto with a slight hint of insincere sincerity. "You seem to be hesitating. Don't be, just tell me if you're going to quit or not, that's unless you want to take on the risk of being a genin forever. Can you do that? Are you able to take the shame while everyone else gets to promote to the chunnin level? C'mon, what are you waiting for, give me the answer." However, this pushed Naruto to his limits. The Death Knight chuckled very coldly and slammed his hand onto the table with much strength. The table nearly snapped in two, he then pierced right to the jounin with his eyes activated with most rage.  
  
"Don't underestimate me, Ibiki-san," stated Naruto in an extremely threatening voice that shocked everyone in the room. He added the san with much mockery. "I seriously don't give a damn if I become a genin forever, I refuse to run away like a coward, even if I mess up I will accept it. I will live my life as a proud failure and if you even have the damn nerve to mock me or ANYONE, you have just signed your death sentence." He then flashed his teal eyes again with absolute hatred. "You got that?" Hinata and Sakura then smiled genuinely with a relieved sigh while the remaining participants were stunned at what the Death Knight just said.  
  
"A pretty powerful speech here," said Ibiki. "You do know your life is depended on this situation."  
  
"Shut up." Was all Naruto said as he deactivated his eyes. 'Second time helping the whole group of people,' thought Sakura with a giggle. 'Yep, ni-chan has lost it.' 'Thank you, Naruto-kun…' said Hinata in her head while holding her chest with her hands. Everyone in the room no longer had the worried look on their faces, all of them seemed to be relieved since their burden has lifted from their shoulders. Shikamaru was grinning lazily but it was genuine, Lee had the smile that showed he was prepared for anything, Sasuke and Neji smirked confidently and awaited anything heading their way. 'Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata with a loving smile. 'You are amazing, you know that?'  
  
"I will say this again, your lives are depending on this decision." continued Ibiki. Hinata and Sakura no longer cared what the jounin had to say, if Naruto won't run away neither will they. Living as a proud failure was a lot more worth it than living a life of cowardice. 'So, 78 left,' thought Ibiki monitoring the room. 'That is a lot more people than I expected. This kid is really impressive, he managed to shake everyone's fears and worries away. He really isn't the Fourth's son for nothing… too bad he has become into a monstrosity… he would've been a great Paladin…' that last part was very regrettable. 'At this rate, prolonging this wouldn't make much of a difference.' He then looked at the chunnins on the sidelines, each one of them returned a nod with a smile. "Now to all those who remained…" Ibiki stated clearly. "I congratulate all of you on passing!" All the genins' eyes opened with shock, most of them watched the jounin dumbly with disbelief.  
  
"What we passed? How could that be? What about the 10th question?" asked Sakura hurriedly. Everyone had the exact same question in their minds. Ibiki laughed in a joking manner.  
  
"There wasn't such a thing to begin with," he stated with a cheerful face. "You can say that the last two choices were the 10th question." 'His personality changed…' thought Sasuke. 'Was he acting the entire time?'  
  
"Hold on a second!" shouted Temari. "IF we passed with this question alone, what was the point of the first nine questions then? Wasn't it all pointless?"  
  
"No, they weren't pointless at all. They already served their purpose."  
  
"What purpose?"  
  
"The purpose of information gathering. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions, let me explain. The test mainly pressured everyone in the first rule, the total team score. If that fact was given to you, this would naturally forced all of you not to mess up for your teammates. Not knowing what the passing mark is, you all assumed the passing mark was a high one. However, the questions all of you received were questions that a mere genin could answer. So, I'm sure that all of you have came up with the solution to get points, I have to cheat to achieve them. So, from the beginning of this test all of us have assumed that you would cheat."  
  
"That should be obvious," muttered Neji.  
  
"In order for you to get points, we had two chunnins within the crowd to help you guys out. Of course you will ask why did I choose this first test to be in this format? I will explain. In chunnin missions, there will be information gathering which are essential in the chance of your mission's success. We utilized this test as a training experience for you guys so you would all know what the real deal is like. Why information gathering is so important? Believe me, getting the wrong information could result in many tragic events to the village. As if the village itself is in jeopardy is bad enough, during the process of the destruction you may lose many comrades, your loved ones, many casualties that you may never have witnessed before. These things can't be taken lightly."  
  
"What if you happen to get the info a little bit incorrect?" asked Hinata silently.  
  
"That is still no excuse, I'll make it blunt. Not only that you cause yourself to be in danger, but you also may endanger your own team. Proceeding into a mission without the correct knowledge is a situation you don't want to be in. Many things could happen such as ambush, hidden traps but many there are such things such as these." The Special Jounin then untied his bandana with the Leaf symbol of it and revealed his skull. All looked disgusted at the sight other than Naruto who seemed to be surprisingly satisfied by it. 'Bruises, burn marks, screw holes, cuts…' thought Sasuke with the urge to vomit. 'What horrible torture... utterly terrible…' "That's what wrong info could do to you," continued Ibiki as he tied the cloth back on his head. "Not only that you suffer these consequences that the enemy gives you, you may also lose your entire platoon due to your carelessness. Of course those who cheated poorly of course didn't make it this far for in a real life scenario you don't have the opportunity to afford any mess ups. Even so, the last and final question is the real deal, the true purpose of this test."  
  
"How though?" asked Tenten.  
  
"As you all see, the 10th question was a to take or not to take scenario. If you choose not to take it, you will fail immediately taking your team with you. But on the other hand, if you went for it and get it incorrectly, the chunnin exam will forever be out of your reach. Talk about two painful choices, it's a true leap of faith. Trashes would believe there would be an easier route and always think there will be a second chance to everything. In the real world, there aren't that many second chances. The final question tested you on under these heavy and pressure circumstances could still prevail with success. Knowing the consequences are extremely high, who would still be proceeding with the task ahead? Let's just say that you become chunnins one day, and your mission is an infiltration for gathering vital information for your village. The area is unknown to you, the level of shinobis who you may encounter are a complete mystery. You know that enemies may setup a lot of traps midway to prevent you from proceeding. Will you decline your mission because it's too dangerous, or you're afraid that your friends and allies may get hurt? To put it more selfishly, you're afraid to die. I'll tell you, the answer is no. There are missions that have heavy risks that can't be simply avoided. Missions are fought with your lives and in order to for the mission to succeed, everyone on the team must act together. It's understandable that there are times that these tasks can be emotionally challenging. But someone on the team must have the ability to show courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through these tough situations, that is the chunnin, the squad leader."  
  
"Those who don't have the strength to bet on fate in such a critical situation, those who just give up believing there is always next year and let their minds sway in an uncertain future with such light determination have no right to become a chunnin, that's what I believe. What you did here today was to be able to make such a decision, you have given the correct answer for this painful last question. You can deal with any difficulties you'll face. The official entrance exam is over, the first test of the Chunnin Selection is finished. I wish you all luck." With that, Sakura and Hinata were cheering with delight deep inside. 'HELL YEAH!' thought Inner Sakura. 'I KNEW WE COULD DO IT!' Sasuke, Neji, Naruto simply grinned inwardly, they were hiding their happiness, there was no need for anyone to know. At that same time, the Death Knight sensed a powerful chakra signature heading their way. Ibiki seemed to know what was going on. The window shattered into pieces as an object suddenly flew in. The mystery person the revealed herself and tossed two kunais to the ceiling holding a banner. She seemed very enthusiastic about this little act.  
  
"There is no time to be happy," she said loudly. "I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko. Let's get to the next exam!" She then punched her fist to the air. "Everyone follow me!" Hinata, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped immediately with no signs of hesitation. 'Who the hell is she?' thought Sakura.  
  
"Grasp the atmosphere…" stated Ibiki dully. Anko flushed in embarrassment. She then shook out of it and took a glance at the entire class. Her eyes narrowed nearly at an instant.  
  
"78 people?" asked Anko. "Ibiki, you allowed 26 teams to pass? What's wrong with you, you made this exam too easy for them didn't you?"  
  
"No, I didn't. There are just many outstanding ones this year."  
  
"Makes no difference to me," she snorted a little with attitude. "The next test I guarantee I would cut them by at least half or more." 'At least half?' thought Sakura trying to make sure she heard correctly. The genins then swallowed hard again. This wasn't looking good.  
  
"I'll explain the details two days later. As you know we'll be meeting at another area, ask your jounin instructors about the rally point and time. Don't be late. That is all for now, you're dismissed." With that said, all the genins left the room and celebrated their first test success, Hinata couldn't wait to talk to Naruto again. It has only been 90 minutes and she missed him already.  
  
========================  
  
The first exam was a success, Team 7 was glad to pass this hell of a psychological exam. As Naruto left the academy grounds, something was in his mind. It was the final words that Anko said, cut them all by half… he didn't quite get what she said. By the tone of voice she was using, it was like it was certain that she would be able to do as promised. She may look loud… he sensed a monster within her. The odds of over half of them failing the next portion of the exam wasn't a good sign at all. The Death Knight was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that he left the academy without his team. It completely slipped his mind nor had the intention to find them. He had more to worry about, like Haku. Rin was supposed to be here by now, it wasn't like her to arrive later than she expected to be… the only person he could think of that could help him was her.  
  
"Naruto-kun," called a voice that immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't tell me that you're going to leave without your girlfriend." She then cooed to his ear softly making part of his worries go away.  
  
"You're not going anywhere without your sister either!" demanded Sakura holding his hand tightly while holding Sasuke's hand as well.  
  
"Why am I getting dragged into this?" asked the Uchiha whining a little. "I want to go home…"  
  
"Hinata-chan, you don't need to stick around me…" said Naruto a little tiredly.  
  
"You don't want me here?" asked Hinata pretending to be hurt.  
  
"That's not it," justified Naruto in a slight panic. "Don't get the wrong idea."  
  
"Then let me stay close to you." She then released him and encircled her arms around his chest holding him close. Naruto then gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. Sakura and Sasuke smiled at that scene, it was good to see those two so caring to another. Hinata blushed as her lover kissed her, she couldn't help but kiss him back. As the two broke apart, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.  
  
"Naruto-kun, don't be so shy, it's not like I haven't kissed you before." teased Hinata sweetly. Little did she know that it wasn't her that Naruto was surprised at, it was something he sensed. It felt like his burden and troubles have lifted, this presence always helped him wherever he went.  
  
"Naruto-nissan!" shouted a kind female voice. Naruto turned around breaking the embrace with his girlfriend. He recognized that voice, he wouldn't forget it anywhere. 'Ni-san?' thought the remaining three genins. 'Did a girl just call him ni-san?'  
  
"Rin-chan!" called Naruto with a very bright smile. "I know you're here!"  
  
"You want to see me?" asked Rin mischievously. "I'm already in front of you." Naruto jerked a bit as his sister revealed herself from Wind Walk. As she appeared, she kissed him passionately on the lips. Sakura's eyes widened, Sasuke was stunned while Hinata's jealously meter had gone off the charts. No one would kiss her Naruto-kun like that, especially not a girl who she never saw in her life. She looked at Naruto with angry eyes, he seemed to like that kiss, he seemed to love it too. (AN: No tongues were involved in that kiss, it was just a lip contact but filled with happiness. Of course Hinata didn't feel that way.) As the two's mouth departed, none of them seemed to be out of breath, they were still smiling to each other. They soon hugged with much emotion.  
  
"I missed you so much, Rin-chan!" said Naruto embracing his dearest sister.  
  
"I missed you too, it has been so long…" said Rin nearly breaking into tears.  
  
"Don't cry… if you do, you may make me cry as well…"  
  
"Okay… for you, Naruto-nissan." Rin broke the embrace and looked at her brother with loving eyes. The Death Knight gave her a very secure smile, as if everything was going to be okay.  
  
"How did you know I was here, Rin-chan?" asked Naruto holding his sister close.  
  
"It's a Kamishiro instinct," teased Rin poking his forehead. "I just know." Naruto just agreed with a grin.  
  
"When did you arrive?"  
  
"Around an hour ago… I met Jiraiya-sensei before I came here. He said that the 3rd volume of Death and Life Paradise is done, he wrote for us." She then reached for her pouch and pulled out a book and slipped it in the Death Knight's pocket. "Read it later, okay?" Naruto nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, how's sempai?"  
  
"He hasn't woke up yet…" answered Naruto sadly. "I was really hoping that he would be up before you got here… I did everything I could…"  
  
"I know you did," she then kissed him on the cheek. "I believe you." Hinata looked at the girl carefully. She indeed was beautiful, she had long silky violet hair that reached down to her back, clear and sharp violet eyes with a very cute face. Naruto was right about her, she did make men blush when she looked their way. Sasuke could suffer a nosebleed right at that instant if Rin accidentally showed him some cleavage. Her body shape was incredible. Her chest was attractive (AN: She doesn't have a very busty chest, she is only 12! But it was very attractive, got that clear?), she had a narrow waist like Hinata, Rin was a gorgeous girl. She was wearing a ninja assassin uniform which outlined her curves well. What surprised Hinata were the weapons Rin was carrying. She had both a katana and a large bow but with no arrows. At that point, she knew Rin was very versatile shinobi like Naruto and why they made such an incredible team. One pure offence and defence, and the other excellent support ranged fighter. She didn't know how strong Rin was but she really didn't look like someone that you just want to mess with for no reason.  
  
"Naruto-kun… who is this person?" asked Hinata even though she already knew. Sakura and Sasuke were really eager to know who she was as well.  
  
"I forgot to introduce myself," said Rin happily coming towards the three other genins. "My name is Kamishiro Rin, I'm Naruto-nissan's closest teammate and his dearest sister. I came here to find him." She then looked over to Naruto, he just simply grinned at her words. A sense of jealousy soon went into the Hyuga heiress' mind, she was determined to find out more about Rin and her relations with Naruto. She remembered Naruto saying she was just his sister, but the things she saw just now were beyond a sister's reach. 'Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata. 'I won't lose you!'   
  
AN: Cliffhanger… somewhat rather. In reality, I am hanging on a cliff right now hiding from enemy troops! I don't know how long I could last like this. I've been shot in the arm and leg… my squad has been separated… all I've got left is my 9mm Assault Rifle, my combat knife, my sidearm and ammunition. Damn, those bastards are patient to end my life… anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter! It certainly took me some time to fix this. Reviews people, your honest opinions always would come in handy to get me out of this situation. Before I suffer another case of a writer's block, I hope you guys would help me! Now, I better find a way to get out of this mess! If I find a way, I'll be back for the next chapter! Damn… I may need a medical attention… 


	13. Crush Depth

**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT:**  
  
Chapter 13: Crush Depth  
  
Disclaimer: You know the drill by now, I don't own Naruto, I don't own Warcraft3 either. I only own Rin! YAY!  
  
AN: Hello sir, it's good to see another reader in uniform! By the looks of things, looks like I'm in one piece somehow, I'm sort of happy for that. Unfortunately, I've got some bad news. The Captain complained that I didn't know my squad too well. That was the reason why they got separated. Guess what, they're blaming me for this, so they sent me to boot camp to do some squad training and saying I need to know my squad before I lead a real platoon. Damn those bastards for setting me up for a stunt like this, I'll make sure I snipe and kill a several of those instructors for being such jackasses! Anyway, before my training exercises begin it's time for me (OpposingForce) to thank all of those who actually bothered to review. As you all know, I can't thank all of you since there are like 20-30 people I have to give my gratitude to. But for all who did press the purple review button and gave me suggestions or answers or comments, I'll reward you all with the latest chapter. The Jutsu-List is updated since there will be action in this chapter, read it when you don't understand some of the techniques, okay? Now, I'll leave you all alone for another 'hopefully decent' epic of our favorite Death Knight. Later!  
  
Q1: Is the Rin I have the character from Maburaho?  
  
A1: I have to thank that series for helping me make this new Rin. Mine isn't like the one in the anime. Yeah, violet hair, violet eyes but her hair isn't the same length or the personality and part of her looks too are different. Can't explain it right now but the name… Kamishiro isn't a not-known last name, I saw it in other Japanese cartoon series as well. I always liked the name Rin. Same name, but different character, okay?  
  
Q2: Why do I like anyone to kiss people on the forehead?  
  
A2: Trust me on this one, I really don't know. I suppose it's a sign that you care about the person by a lot, to show that they are important to you. I take it was a genuine expression and action. If this satisfy those who asked me this question, I'm glad. If it didn't, please go to your local psychiatrist for your preferred answer.  
  
**AN: What, you guys are still here? C'mon, start reading already!**

"You're his sister?" asked Sakura to Rin as if it was the strangest thing in the world. Rin nodded cheerfully with a smile that nearly made the Uchiha suffer a case of nosebleed. Damn, she was beautiful, what caught the raven hair boy's attention had to be her chest. He wasn't perverted but it was hard for a guy to resist. "How come you two don't look alike at all?"  
  
"Everyone asks us the same question," said Rin with a giggle. "The truth is we aren't biological siblings, we are really, really close friends. Naruto-ni-san isn't only my partner in all the missions we have faced, he's really my best friend I can't live without."  
  
"Can't live without?" asked Naruto raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little too far?"  
  
"Oh, I get it," said Rin pretending to be hurt. "You never missed me did you? You're mean!"  
  
"I… I didn't mean it that way, Rin-chan!" said the Death Knight flailing his arms in a defensive position. "I'm just saying that can't live without a person is just too extreme, that's all!"  
  
"Can you live without me?"  
  
"I'll get over it…" Rin gave her brother an unconvinced look. "Hey, I'll be sad but life is tough… I'll have to get over it sooner or later, right?"  
  
"You're always so honest and blunt, Naruto-ni-san. You should really start to be a little warmer."  
  
"Naruto-kun is usually quite collected, Rin-san…" said Hinata rather low. "He doesn't show much emotions towards a lot of things… even me at times…"  
  
"Naruto-ni-san, who's this girl to you?" asked Rin curiously.  
  
"She's my…" Naruto tried to use the correct words.  
  
"I'm his girlfriend." stated Hinata clearly and to the point.  
  
"That's it," said Naruto clicking his mind. "That's the word I was looking for."  
  
"You have a girlfriend? I am SO happy for you! How long have you been together?" She then rushed to Hinata's side. "Has ni-san been good to you? Has he been a cold and senseless guy who crushed your heart plenty of times? Has he cheated on anyone?"  
  
"I wouldn't do anything like that to Hinata-chan, Rin-chan…" said Naruto rolling his eyes somewhat.  
  
"Yeah, Naruto-kun wouldn't do that," added Hinata with a smile. "He's very devoted."  
  
"I was just teasing you! I forgot, what are your names anyway?" asked Rin to the three other genins.  
  
"I'm Hyuga Hinata, it's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"I'm Haruno Sakura, Naruto-ni-chan's best friend!" said the mentioned girl with a bright smile. Rin looked very surprised. She was glad her brother had another close friend by his side.  
  
"I'm… Uchiha Sasuke…" said the Uchiha boy dully trying not to look at her. _'Don't look at her…'_ he thought to himself. _'Control yourself, Sasuke… it's not like you haven't seen girls before… calm down and don't look at her.'_ Suddenly Rin was in front of him, her face was only a foot away from his. The Uchiha nearly jumped a several feet away.  
  
"Why aren't you looking at me?" asked the female archer teasingly with the cutest face Sasuke had seen. "Is it because I'm pretty? Oh, you're so nice!" The Kamishiro girl immediately hugged Sasuke making the boy to nearly faint. At that point, Naruto just laughed.  
  
"Rin-chan, you gotta… you know…" Naruto calmed himself in a matter of seconds. "Anyway, you need to see sempai, right?" Rin turned back to him and nodded. "We should get going then, each second counts." With that, Hinata, Rin and Naruto leaped into the air vanishing. Sasuke and Sakura were amazed at their speed.  
  
"Looks like it's just the two of us," said Sakura holding the Uchiha's hand. He blushed slightly.  
  
"Where do you want to go?"  
  
"Anywhere with you!" He chuckled a bit and took off to their own destination. Sakura knew she was winning his heart slowly, inside she was dancing with absolute joy.  
  
=========================  
  
Rin rushed into the guest-room immediately as she went into Naruto's apartment, the Death Knight didn't care too much though, he knew how concerned she was about her sempai. After being a good host serving his girlfriend, he quietly sat on the couch and began to read the new volume Jiraiya wrote for them. This is what he usually did when he was down or depressed, this novel series always helped him relax somehow, trying to seek out the best answers in life. He then began to read out loud and didn't even know Hinata silently went to his side.  
  
"Life is very unfair," he began dully. "Those who have the true skill and strength may not be praised for it, on the other hand, those who live their lives with trickery always seem to get the best out of everything. It does seem unfair, true hard work not recognized. What hurts even more is the fact that no one realizes what you did. Even when your true intentions aren't for fame, it does still hurt. Remember this, glorious moments don't last forever, eventually people will seek out the real truth. Lies and trickery can only win so much but truth and honesty will always satisfy anyone. No one in the world would want to live in a society of lies, not even liars. Life again is really unfair, there's no such thing as fair game anywhere. In order to achieve things, one must utilize everything within their heart, mind, strength and soul. If you lose, try again, never give up. We all know how painful it is not to be able to help change something close to you after everything you put into it. It really does seem to be unfair isn't it, powerless to make a difference… this world does seem to be just a place of lies." At that point Naruto closed his book and gave a sigh. "The world is really unfair… the people who are closest to me always have to suffer…"  
  
"Naruto-kun…" murmured Hinata as she wrapped her arms around his right arm. Naruto was startled for a second, he didn't realize the heiress was next to him the entire time. Hinata then placed her head on his shoulder for comfort, the Death Knight sighed and put his arm around her pulling her closer. He kissed her on the cheek which made her blush slightly. She knew he was worried the entire time. Those smiles he gave before were just a mask he placed on himself, he just didn't want his sorrow to affect anyone important to him. The real Naruto was in a deep depression, he had been like this ever since Haku arrived and showed no result in getting better. He didn't blame it on anyone, but he secretly blamed it on himself for not being good enough to help. Hinata could see how important Haku and Rin were in his life. Come to think of it, Rin was exactly like Naruto but a much more bright and cheerful. The scenario which Rin was talking to Sasuke suddenly appeared in the Hyuga girl's mind, she could remember Rin just looked at her friend and got the answers she wanted. She was just like Naruto, she may look happy but when she faced her real problem, she took off that mask and her real down self was revealed. "Naruto-kun… you want me to make you happy?" The Death Knight wasn't really paying much attention to what she just said, his eyes were suddenly lifeless and out of it. As Hinata stroked his cheek, Naruto seemed to have a bit of reaction.  
  
"What? What did you say just now?" he asked without much energy.  
  
"You want to make your unhappiness into pleasure?" she asked again as she pulled him closer while pushing herself to him. Naruto looked at the smile she was giving, it was filled with love and passion. The words he just heard kept ringing in his mind. Then he focussed a little more and observed her as quick as he could. Then he understood what she meant. 'I want to make you happy, take me!' thought Hinata as she was swooning over him at this point. The Death Knight didn't seem to be even showing any signs of retaliation, she was already on top of him ready to kiss him. The expression on Hinata was filled with lust, she wanted him and he wanted her too. However, Naruto kissed her on the cheek quickly and got loose from her. He simply stood up and gave her a smile.  
  
"I'll check on Rin-chan for a bit." He stated without much emotion and walked away. Hinata showed much disappointment on her eyes, she cursed herself for not being firm enough. She missed her chance, she couldn't believe she messed him her big chance. As Naruto entered the guest room, she found Rin kneeling next to Haku silently without saying a word. She was stroking his cheek gently, Naruto saw the pain that was put into it. He kneeled next to his sister and put his hand on her shoulder trying the best to comfort her. Rin stiffened a bit at his touch and immediately hugged him. The runeblade wielder didn't pull back his emotions and just embraced her with sadness.  
  
"Hey, what are you two being so sad about?" asked a voice suddenly. The Death Knight's eyes widened as he heard a voice that wasn't Rin's, it didn't sound like Hinata's either. Naruto was dead stiff and Rin immediately started laughing. The silver hair boy broke the hug and allowed his sister to continue to laughter. He glance up front just to see to a figure crouching at his level with a grin on his face, an evil grin to be exact.  
  
"What the living hell…" asked the Death Knight stuttering hard on his words.  
  
"Hey, you seem like you've just saw a ghost. C'mon, has the great Uzumaki Naruto scared to see his sempai?" teased Haku nearly laughing.  
  
"Why you little bastard!" exclaimed Naruto as he tackled Haku with full force like a kid. Haku didn't have enough time to dodge him, he just took the hit completely and collided to the wall.  
  
"Don't hurt Haku-sempai like that, Naruto-ni-san!" shouted Rin covering her mouth with a gasp while the silver hair genin was pounding the older Mist-nin playfully.  
  
"This little bastard's gonna get it for setting up this little trick… Rin-chan, I haven't forgotten about you either… you will know endless torment like your beloved sempai here!" Rin pouted and gave him a sinister smile. She immediately tackled her brother as well knocking him off Haku. Secretly Haku was thankful that the boy was off him since he was still in a recovering process but he couldn't help himself from laughing at the sight displayed in front of him. Rin was on top of Naruto punching him like a little girl would, she was having a lot of fun.  
  
"You like bullying my sempai?" questioned Rin as she beat her brother some more.  
  
"Hey, I can't allow him trick me like that! Ow… ow… hey, you helped him set this up didn't you?" Rin nodded sticking her tongue at him. She knew she couldn't hide a thing from him but that didn't stop her from punching him. The Death Knight flashed a sinister look and put his hands on her waist. She stiffened immediately and melted to his touch. Haku knew this too well, he was quite eager at what was going to happen next. A devilish grin appeared on Naruto's face, since he was such a cold person, that grin made him look extremely dark and evil. Rin felt a blush on her face since he was touching her in a romantic way. The female archer knew too well that this wasn't much of a romance thing, he had something up his sleeve. Naruto then allowed his fingers to do the talking as he felt his sister completely relaxed, he tickled her. Rin chuckled at first but soon she was laughing again, she couldn't resist it when she was touched at the waist. Within a matter of seconds, Rin was rolling on the floor laughing defenselessly. Naruto grinned as he gave Haku a suspicious look ready to strike.  
  
"Hey, I'm the patient here!" justified Haku. "I'm still trying to heal! You're not here to hurt me!"  
  
"Patient my ass!" retorted Naruto grinning then recovering back to a serious one. "How long have you been awake though, Haku-sempai?"  
  
"Around sometime after you left. I felt a little weak so I didn't say anything and fell back to sleep."  
  
"How did Rin-chan react when she saw you?" asked Naruto curiously.  
  
"Oh, her reaction wasn't the one I expected my little boy… she gave me my first kiss…" Rin blushed immediately and hid behind Naruto like a little puppy. "I knew Rin always wanted to do that, I knew she was too shy to actually try it." Haku then went to Rin's side and poked her in the cheek slightly causing the girl to flush deeper. Naruto simply smiled at the two.  
  
"Rin-chan, you kissed Haku-sempai as a waking up gift?" joked the Death Knight. "I never knew you had it in you to do that."  
  
"Be quiet, Naruto-ni-san!" exclaimed Rin blushing. "You have a girlfriend too, I'm sure you kiss her too!"  
  
"I kiss her, yeah, but not on the lips like you did… what if sempai gets a heart attack?"  
  
"If I get a heart attack because of that sweet kiss…" stated Haku shaking his head. "You can consider me a weakling, I don't deserve the Hunter-nin title."  
  
"Rin-chan's a good kisser, huh?" questioned Naruto punching him in the shoulder slightly.  
  
"Is your girlfriend a good kisser then?" asked Rin innocently batting her eyes cutely.  
  
"I hope you're not waiting for a response…" Suddenly something sort of hit him, his eyes went to horror and shock. "Damn… holy crap… what…"  
  
"Naruto, you okay?" asked Haku tapping the Death Knight's shoulder. "Is something wrong? Hey, say something would you? You're freaking me out!"  
  
"I just remember what Hinata-chan just said before I came into the room… I was too down and occupied to pay attention… when Rin-chan reminded me of her… her words… Hinata-chan was trying to seduce me!"  
  
"What did she say though?" asked the purple hair girl.  
  
"I want to turn your unhappiness into pleasure…" answered Naruto with quite a pale face. Rin nodded with a slight bit of confusion while Haku's face turned white like the Death Knight's.  
  
"What's so bad about that?" The Kamishiro girl was still too innocent. Haku went to Rin's side and whispered in her ear slowly and the girl nodded at the first sentences and blushed at the next couple of words. She gasped and looked at her brother who was nodding with the best straight face he could muster.  
  
"I never realized your girlfriend is that seducing…" muttered Haku. "You scared of that?"  
  
"Yeah, sometimes…" Rin and Haku weren't convinced. "Okay, nearly all the time! I don't show any signs that I'm afraid or even give her the impression I am getting lured. I just continue as if she isn't doing anything in particular and act everything is normal."  
  
"Yo, she's gonna give up on you if don't show some reaction, my friend." Rin agreed with her sempai as well.  
  
"Hey, I'm no pervert, I refuse to allow myself get seduced!" countered Naruto.  
  
"Naruto-ni-san, you really have godly self-control… you're amazing…" admitted Rin giggling.  
  
"Don't give me too much credit, she's getting more persistent and more seductive every time… it really is a matter of time before I fall."  
  
"If you know that you're going to fall soon, why don't you just give her what she wants?" suggested Haku as if that was the most correct answer. "That girl wants you man, give it to her. Besides, there's nothing wrong if you love her."  
  
"Hey, you know I ain't the most touchy person in terms of romance. I know I love her and I will take care of her even if I have to offer my life. I love her… but I don't know how to start these mushy things. I am a Death Knight for crying out loud, I shouldn't even be having someone like Hinata-chan! She really deserves someone better… I feel like the luckiest guy on this planet the day I found that she loved me, I don't want to hurt her…"  
  
"If you do what she wants, trust me, you aren't hurting her one little bit."  
  
"What if I don't want to do what she wants to do?" asked the Death Knight.  
  
"I'm sure Hinata-san would do anything to catch your attention. If you feel so strongly about it, you have to tell her," said Rin. "Or you could just have amazing self-control that you can't be affected."  
  
"I'll do that!" pointed out Naruto clearly.  
  
"I don't know about that, even though you're have the maturity of a 20 year old… you're human after all," said the Mist-nin doubtfully. "How long can you keep this up?"  
  
"I've survived for this long, I can continue on like this." Haku and Rin certainly didn't look convinced by his words. "Hey, I'm a half demon too, I ain't like a little human." added the Death Knight.   
  
"Even so, anything other than a machine has a tolerance level, I'm certain that you're going to fail sooner or later, Naruto. It is something called temptation."  
  
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen then."  
  
"Whatever choice you make," said the violet eye girl. "I'll stick by your side and aid you."  
  
"Thank you, Rin-chan. That reminds me, Haku-sempai, what are you going to do now after Zabuza… well is no longer with us? You can go back to the Mist-village and continue living… or you could stay here and register as a transfer shinobi. You could be a ninja serving Konoha instead and and contribute your services here. I'm sure Konoha sure would accept a Hunter-nin such as yourself. I know your past with the Mist… that's why I am making this choice. It's up to you…"  
  
"I will accept it, after Zabuza-san is gone, I really have no more reason why I should stay there."  
  
"Then we should get going to the Hokage's office then, we should get you as a citizen of Konoha as soon as possible. You should get dressed properly and move out." Rin and Haku nodded in agreement.   
  
=========================  
  
Naruto allowed the other two to be alone for a while, so he decided to exit the room. As he made his exit, he felt someone immediately attached to him. He knew this touch too well. He lowered his head just to find Hinata already found her head into his chest claiming it.  
  
"What took you so long, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hyuga girl not letting him go as she gave him a cute look to make ensure she got her way. Naruto smiled at her only and stroked her back gently.  
  
"Haku-sempai is up." Naruto answered with a smile across his face. Hinata looked excited.  
  
"Really? How is he now?"  
  
"He's feeling quite fine, just a little rusty from the one week's worth of rest."  
  
"Is that so, what are Rin-san and Haku-san doing in there still?" asked the heiress.  
  
"I suppose Rin-chan is just treating some injuries he still has…" he lied somewhat. "Maybe I shouldn't have tackled sempai that hard…"  
  
"You tackled a recovering person?" The Death Knight admitted with a nod, Hinata then took his hand and held it. "What if he gets hurt again because of that?" 'It was more like a skull bash…' thought Naruto.  
  
"Nah, I'm sure sempai is strong enough to make it out fine. Anyway, I need to get to the Hokage's office to deal with Haku-sempai's citizenship stuff. I need to register him here as a member of Konoha."  
  
"You're leaving now… but I want…" He immediately put his finger to her mouth.  
  
"We have to deal with the chunnin exam in 2 days, this is the best time for me to do it," justified Naruto. "Besides, I want sempai to forget about Zabuza's death soon. I know he's affected someway, I need him to get over it as soon as possible." Hinata nodded and gave him a long passionate kiss on the cheek. Naruto was surprised. "What was that for, Hina-chan?"  
  
"You never asked me the reason for any of my kiss," said Hinata looking at him innocently.  
  
"I know, but why did you kiss me for that long though?"  
  
"You don't like it?" she asked as if she was hurt.  
  
"That's not it, you know that."  
  
"It's just you're always so kind to people no matter what kind of critical situations people have. You're willing to sacrifice your interests and wants to help them."  
  
"It's pretty stupid isn't it?" he asked sadly. "I never seem to think about myself, only others."  
  
"I think that is wonderful that you are so caring."  
  
"Thanks for saying so." Naruto stated sincerely. "Well, you can't say I sacrifice any interests when I never had any. As least I don't have it much anymore. I only lived this life for one purpose, to seek vengeance on Konoha. That dream never changed until Rin-chan started to become an important person in my life."  
  
"Rin-san is really crucial to you, isn't she?" asked Hinata still embracing him. The Death Knight nodded.  
  
"However, I still believed that Konoha deserved to burn to the ground… what they did to me was unforgivable, I still seek that day Konoha falls. However, you made me reconsider that thought. If I destroyed Konoha, I would hurt you too… I don't want that to happen because you are also very important to me. Hina-chan, you have no idea how I adore…"  
  
"Naruto-ni-san!" called Rin as she came out the door with Haku not knowing she interrupted their conversation. The Death Knight allowed it to slide this time however. The Mist-nin then immediately went to Hinata without a second thought and held both her hands with his in a romantic way. Hinata looked at Haku who had a very innocent smile on his face. (AN: Think Miroku from Inuyasha! I have to love that guy!)  
  
"You must be Hyuga Hinata-chan that Naruto was talking about," said Haku still holding Hinata's hands passionately, Rin was fuming a little with a hint of jealousy. The silver hair boy only rolled his eyes boringly not showing much amusement. "I have to thank you for the hospitality you provided. In order to thank a gorgeous girl like you, would you be kind enough to allow me to take you out on a date?" Hinata blushed immediately while the Death Knight sighed in exhaustion. Rin immediately whacked her sempai on the head with a twitching fist.  
  
"Sempai, what are you doing trying to hit on ni-san's girlfriend!" exclaimed Rin angrily.  
  
"I'm just showing her my gratitude, what's wrong with that?" That alone resulted in another smash in the head. Naruto simply pretended nothing happened.  
  
"Naruto-ni-san, let's get going!" commanded Rin as she dragged Haku by the back of his collar and headed to the door.  
  
"I'll be back later, Hinata-chan," said Naruto as he kissed her on the cheek. The Hyuga girl blushed at his touch like she always did when people were around. She then slowly kissed him back but he decided to pull back quickly. With another ruffling her hair, the three shinobis then disappeared in a flash leaving Hinata alone.  
  
======================  
  
While as they exited the apartment, Naruto was extremely surprised to see that Haku was still at it, his speed was definitely impressive in the condition he was in. The three were dashing around the sides of buildings of Konoha as if there were no streets at all. The trio dodged anyone they could in the village, it wasn't like they wanted to avoid them, they were too quick for the villagers to see or sense. Seeing there was no point to take their sweet time, Naruto then leaped high to the sky with Rin and Haku following him using their preferred teleport technique and warped out the vicinity.  
  
The Death Knight with his two closest allies arrived outside the Hokage's building with their warp. Naruto observed his surroundings carefully with a straight face, he could feel a disturbing aura around here. Haku and Rin didn't sense it since it wasn't directed at them but Naruto could see many people were watching him. The silver hair genin then smirked widely, somewhat sinisterly. The female archer and Hunter-nin noticed this, they knew something was going on when they sensed many different energies nearby. As the three looked around, many chunnins and Anbus were already here hiding and revealing themselves. All of them had evil grins on their faces, they were up to something.  
  
"I didn't expect this to be a welcoming party," said Haku sarcastically eyeing the surrounding chunnins.  
  
"More of a ambush to me," said Naruto with a stern annoyed look.  
  
"What did you do to make those people act like this, ni-san?" asked Rin angrily watching each shinobi. There were over 2 dozen, the scary part was this took place outside the Hokage's office.  
  
"I'm sure these guys would give you the answer soon enough. I recognize some of them, they were the chunnin judges that were in the first part of the chunnin exam."  
  
"So, the demon boy has a good memory now," mocked one of the chunnins. "You have a lot of nerve coming here after what you said to Ibiki. You threaten him, you have messed with us!"  
  
"I didn't come here to fight, I'm here to see Hokage-sama." stated an unmoved Naruto coldly.  
  
"Too bad, you came at the wrong time, this happened to be our break time."  
  
"So what about it?" asked Rin suspiciously.  
  
"We are here to deal with some unfinished business with that demon," explained another older rank shinobi with a sense of authority. "Boy or not, no one dares speak to the Anbu Captain like he's the boss."  
  
"If Ibiki feels so strongly about, why isn't he here?" asked the Death Knight not seeing the special jounin with sight range.  
  
"He was proud that you stood up to him, but of course we didn't think so. Demon brat, it's time for you to know your place in Konoha!"  
  
"Oh, so you volunteered yourselves to do this?" asked Haku with a grin. "This makes things even better."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Naruto. "You guys have brought on this responsibility upon yourselves. Don't blame us when you get hurt too much."  
  
"There's no way you three kids could beat all of us," shouted a cocky chunnin. Naruto nearly yawned.  
  
"Why don't just see for yourselves how powerless we are?" questioned Rin with dark sarcasm. "Guys, this would be just like old times, right?" The other males nodded as they reached for their weapons. Haku had his needles and glaive (AN: I should make him have more than just needles, he needs a decent weapon for real heavy combat.) while Naruto held on to his blade. Unexpectedly, all three of them vanished right before all of their eyes.  
  
"What the hell happened?" questioned an enemy shinobi.  
  
"How the heck am I supposed to know?" shouted another. At the next split second, three of the chunnins already had sharp objects stabbed into their chest. No one saw that one coming, it was too quick for them even to sense. As the three teens pulled out their weapons out of the now nearly dead chunnins, they glared at the remaining older shinobis who had an angry and fuming expression. One gritted his teeth and formed hand seals for an advanced attack.  
  
"Fire Wave-no jutsu!" yelled the mentioned chunnin as a flame of raging fire burst from his mouth in a mannerly fashion. The teens simply leaped high to the air and dashed down holding their weapons first in a defensive position and then dived down at high speed in a charging state. Some of the enemies quickly tossed kunais and shurikens at the incoming genins (AN: I know Rin is a chunnin but naming them genins is a little bit easier right now.) hoping to halt their assault. However, their attempts were to no avail since they were deflected easily as if they were nothing. Haku immediately slid at high agility to reach close to his opponents. The chunnins didn't expect what the Hunter-nin did next, using chakra Haku generated a large Ice Shard in his hand and launched it at a chunnin. It struck him hard in the chest and exploded in contact. It stunned him badly as well causing his movements to be severely dulled. Two other shinobis decided to go melee on the Mist-nin, Haku was prepared for anything they had in store. When the slash came, the Mist-nin simply moved back to evade and raised a leg to break one of the chunnins' wrist. The other one was shocked at what happened, Haku did it like as if it was the easiest thing in the world. However, that didn't stop him, he continued his assault hoping it would at least wound the Hunter-nin by just a bit. The older genin had enough warming up, it was time to end this chunnin's overconfidence. Haku leaped backward a bit and formed a set of hand seals.  
  
"Frost Nova!" shouted Haku as a powerful burst of ice came from the chunnin. He was frozen, not literally inside an ice cube scenario but his body was freezing. He no longer had the will to continue battling. As soon as Haku sensed another person behind him, he lifted his glaive and slashed horizontally at the person's stomach causing a very deep cut. The enemy grabbed his wound in pain and fell to his knees defenseless, he was already losing quite a bit of blood. The Mist-nin didn't bother ending his life, it wasn't worth getting his hands slightly dirty. Instead he took off to aid his other comrades. Of course, he was interrupted on the way since the chunnins were here to stop his progress in any way possible. Haku smirked and continued to engage those fools.   
  
"Death Coil!" shouted Naruto as he released a green coil of death at a chunnin that struck his face. The damaged shinobi held his face in pure agony, it was music to the Death Knight's ears. Suddenly from behind the fallen chunnin, two of his subordinates fired dangerous fireballs as a covering attack. Naruto defended with his blade while moving slightly back due to the effective suppressing fire. It was then Rin did some firing of her own to support her brother. Generating chakra in her hand, she began to fire Cold Arrows to pierce through the incoming fireballs. Naruto smirked at his sister's excellent timing, it never ceased to impress him. As the icy arrows destroyed some of the attacking fireballs, it struck directly in their faces sending them falling backwards.  
  
"Hey, I would've taken care of myself quite well you know!" shouted Naruto as he released a Chain Lightning at more incoming troops.  
  
"Is that what you say after I helped you?" questioned Rin teasingly as she dodged a kunai aimed for her chest. Naruto smirked in response as he dashed to another chunnin attacking with his blade held high ready to strike. Rin ignored her brother and continued what she was doing. With a Blink, she teleported herself to a good distance and unleashed the powerful Forked Lightning at 3 slow chunnins. The others who were alerted tossed more shurikens to stop her assault. The female archer easily deflected them using her own ranged attacks and gave off more suppressing fire that nailed down another ninja. 'These guys are weak!' thought Rin with a smirk as she smashed a sneaky one behind her in the face with her fist. At the exact same time, a kunai was flying her way unexpectedly but it seemed like slow motion to her. She simply grabbed the handle with whizzed it at the person who tossed it. It struck in the chunnin's vest deeply into his flesh and to make him know more pain, the girl shot a Mana Burn at his stomach allowing the feeling of suffering enter his system. Another annoying ninja charged at her, she glared slightly and moved away as his attack nearly damaged her. With a quick hand seal formation, she placed her hand on his arm with an devilish grin on her cute face, the chunnin was sweating bullets then since he couldn't break free from her grip. Her grin then faded and an extremely high volt Forked Lightning all focussed onto him only nearly killing him in one shot.  
  
Meanwhile, Naruto wasn't showing a sign of mercy at the shinobi he was dealing, his onslaught frightened all those who were engaging him. A chunnin attempted to stab the Death Knight as he got close but that only resulted in the kunai to be sliced in two smoothly and a forceful kick in the face. No one could get close to him or even last long if Naruto was fighting close range. They tried genjutsu which had no signs of effectiveness since he would just dispel it as if it was nothing. Their ninjutsu techniques would be all drained by the Devour Magic or the Death Knight would just evade it making them waste their chakra. Bunshins and other replication techniques couldn't fool him either, he would simply use Chain Lightning, it would guarantee to hit the real person.   
  
"Silence!" shouted Naruto as he unleashed chakra on a chunnin who was about to use a ninjutsu technique. (AN: CHECK JUTSU LIST to find out more about these techniques)  
  
"Hey, what are you doing?" questioned a chunnin angrily as he blocked one of the silver hair boy's blade assaults which were physically strong. "Why aren't you firing?"  
  
"I can't! I really can't!" called back the Silenced shinobi. Knowing he couldn't release his jutsu, he reached for his pouch and threw a kunai at Naruto aiming right for his head. The dark warrior tilted his head slightly as the weapon whizzed by his face. The chunnin's eyes widened in shock, he never expected the boy to be this incredibly good. One higher rank ninja dashed to the Death Knight's side preparing to strike his waist with a kunai. This didn't go unnoticed by Naruto though for his moved back a little allowing the foolish chunnin to pass by missing him completely. With the perfect timing, he raised his knee up to the chunnin's stomach causing blood come out of his mouth as an immediate effect. With a twist, Naruto gripped the chunnin's face with his available hand and started to crush it. The other's could only watch it fear as a hungry smile of satisfaction came across the demon boy's face.  
  
"Cripple." stated Naruto as a loud splash of chakra sound was heard from the victim. The victim was released from the grip one second after that but he looked crapped up beyond imaginable, it was similar his bones and ligaments were busted and dislocated beyond FUBAR. With a glare, he raised his runeblade and aimed at one of the dumbfounded opponents. However, he didn't fire anything but he Blinked to his side and stabbed the blade in his chest with much strength causing him to yell in absolute pain. Blood covered Nightshadow (AN: If you don't know what this name is, that's his runeblade) as Naruto pulled it out, to ensure the guy knew endless torment before he died, the Death Knight shot a Death Coil before the blade extracted completely. His dark smirk grew only wider.  
  
"What in the hell is going on here?" yelled a voice in panic and disbelief. The three teens stopped their assault for a second and took a glance at who was actually stopping them. Haku and Rin didn't know who he was but that man wasn't a mystery to Naruto, it was no other than the Hokage.  
  
"Nothing much," lied Naruto as kicked the body away off so he could sheath his runeblade. "This was a welcoming party these guys wanted to give me before I was given permission to see you."  
  
"Yeah," added Rin as she released a chunnin from the collar to the ground. "They certainly entertained us."  
  
"Welcoming party?" questioned the Third angrily. He glanced at the amount of chunnins on the ground, he counted 23, only 5 of them were still standing with absolute fear. The conscious middle class shinobis didn't know what to be scared of. The fact that three kids beat 28 chunnins or the consequences for starting this in the first place. By the looks of it, a lot of them have been killed, they certainly seemed lifeless and showed no signs of even twitching. The Hokage gasped and eyed Naruto dangerously, the Death Knight showed no reaction.  
  
"You seem like you want to say something," said Naruto with sarcasm. "I don't like my time to be wasted."  
  
"Did you kill some of these men, Naruto?" asked the old man dangerously.  
  
"Hey, they volunteered themselves to perform this on me," justified Naruto with no sense of feeling any guilt for killing or nearly killing these 'allies'. "I was only here to look for you."  
  
"This doesn't give you the right…" Naruto flashed a cold glare.  
  
"What the hell am I supposed to do when these Konoha freaks surrounded the three of us when we arrived? They weren't here to chat, I know that."  
  
"Naruto-ni-san just wanted to bring Haku-sempai to you!" said Rin with a touch of guilt for hurting so many people. Deep down, she felt no remorse just like Naruto, she was smirking victoriously inside.  
  
"You must be Kamishiro Rin from the Hidden-Air. Jiraiya has told me enough about you," said the Third somewhat coldly at the female archer. "You do know it's nearly unforgivable that a foreign ninja such as yourself to come to other's village and kill over 2 dozen of their skilled shinobis." 'Skilled is hardly the word,' mocked Rin in her thoughts. Haku grinned at that fake neutral expression on her face, he simply loved it.  
  
"They insisted to attack Naruto-ni-san, I felt obligated to step in."  
  
"What was the reason that they wanted to take down Naruto so badly?" asked the Hokage very curiously. Haku and Rin honestly didn't know, however the silver hair boy seemed to know.  
  
"I said something about threatening Ibiki-san's life," answered Naruto all covered in fresh blood, the other two were the same as well. "It happened in the chunnin exam when Ibiki-san was doing his psychological torture on me and others. I just lost to my emotions and threatened him to stop."  
  
"I see, looks like Ibiki did a good job at that department."  
  
"What I'm confused was if Ibiki-san was the person I threatened, why are these men here? If he felt insulted… which I seriously doubt, shouldn't he be here taking me on as well?"  
  
"You're right," stated the Third. "Ibiki isn't that type of person who takes these things personally, he knows why you said what you said. I think the reason of these chunnins acted the way they did was the fact that…" Naruto looked at the ground sadly as he wiped the blood off his runeblade.  
  
"I'm the most feared one in Konoha, I'm the last of my clan who became a Death Knight, right?"  
  
"Naruto-ni-san, you're not a demon!" shouted Rin holding his arm.  
  
"What's the point of cheering up when everyone else believes that you are?" questioned the silver hair boy lifelessly in a miserable state. "Believe me, this incident happened when I found out Haku was brought here by Sasuke and his team. Two Anbu members attacked my team just because I was asking who was coming to the gate. Rin-chan, Haku-sempai and Hokage-sama, as long as I'm here I will only cause trouble to the village… I'll admit that, I'll accept this fact as long as I live."  
  
"Naruto…" whispered the Third too ashamed to look at the boys cold eyes with pure hatred towards Konoha and most of the people. He blamed himself for not doing a good enough job to help the boy the way it should've been done. He sighed in silence. "Naruto… I'm very sorry that you still feel about Konoha the same way after all this time… I really thought that living away would change your beliefs and doctrine. However, it seemed like after your absence you have turned into what the villagers never wanted you to become…"  
  
"Naruto-ni-san isn't what the people think he is!" shouted Rin angrily but not angry towards the old man.  
  
"I know, Rin," continued the Third calmly but holding a lot of sadness. "I don't think so either. To me, it really doesn't matter if he's the Uzumaki Paladin or the evil Death Knight. Believe me, I truly believe that if he was evil, there would be no way that you would still be alive. He wouldn't have accepted people into his life and found a source of something that is of worth for him to protect. He found you, Jiraiya, your Mist-nin friend Haku, his teammates, he's willing to make sacrifices for them no matter how big the cost. I think he's a great Death Knight, he's really the first one to be like that. You can say he may be dark, he's not evil at all. It's really a shame that so many people still see him as a monstrosity…"  
  
"It's okay, Hokage-sama…" said Naruto devoid of any feeling but he was glad to be accepted by him. "As long as there are people who want me to be me… that's more than enough." He then walked to the bodies with a grin on his face. "Hokage-sama, I'll deal with the bodies… I'll take all the blame on this, I'm sorry we may have killed 20 chunnins today to weaken Konoha's men… I'm willing to suffer any consequences you have prepared for me. Just allow Rin and Haku to slide out of this. I beg you, they just didn't want me to get hurt…" At that point, the boy was already bowing to the old man begging him to meet some of his requests. The Hokage just smiled.  
  
"There's no need for that, Naruto."  
  
"What?" asked all three teens shocked.  
  
"The law does state that no one is allowed to pick on fights with you are they not? Unless it was a friendly challenge or match in a test or something. If any citizen decided to ambush you for the reason of you're the demon and wanted to kill you for that, they have to deal with me. If you killed them… even though it was somewhat inappropriate, I'll take it as a form of self defense." The three teens were dumbfounded by this answer, Naruto never received such grace from anybody before other than Rin loving him as the most important person in her life and Hinata accepting him no matter what. Naruto gratefully bowed holding back tears as Rin gave him a passionate hug and the Hunter-nin gave a friendship embrace with pats on the back.  
  
"I thank you, Hokage-sama!" exclaimed Naruto sincerely when his inner self was grinning with a sense of lust in blood. He was glad more bastards died today. The old man then guided Rin and Haku to his office to decide on what kind of plans they should be making now. Rin needed to fully register herself here so she could be the official judges of the chunnin exam while Haku needed to be a citizen of Konoha and get into the Medic-nin squadron for the chunnin exams and future career. As for the 5 dumbfounded conscious chunnins, the Third ordered them to stay behind after his conference was done.   
  
Naruto smiled as his two friends went in and began to gather up the dead bodies to put them into a pile. He took a good look at his face as a body's forehead protector gave him his reflection, he didn't realize he was covered in blood that was turning dark red at this point. He smiled as he licked and drank some of it on his arm, it tasted satisfyingly sweet. His hungry expression soon returned to neutral as he shook off all the evil thoughts that roamed around in his mind. In reality, he sensed someone was behind him nearby. He flashed a look at a large tree with a grin and decided to tie up any loose ends.  
  
"Gaara-san," called Naruto kind but firm. "Why are you here?" The red head immediately jerked as his name was called, how did Naruto know he was there even though he wasn't revealing himself in anyway. Knowing he was spotted, he decided to reveal himself but not so gracefully.  
  
"You're pretty good for noticing me this quickly," stated Gaara with a cold look.  
  
"Enough of the mockery," said Naruto wiping away most of the blood on his upper body. "I know you have been watching for some time. Anyway, I have no idea why you're here but I want to talk to you though."  
  
"If it's about that incident we had a week ago, I have no interest to talk about it. I already apologized."  
  
"I'm certain that you would like the subject topic. Would you mind if I talk over dinner?" Gaara winced at him with confusion. No one ever treated him to dinner, especially not someone who he barely knew. However, the expression the Death Knight gave him was a surprisingly understanding one. It seemed to be an offer he shouldn't refuse even though he felt awkward about it. Gaara nodded slightly and a grin immediately appeared on Naruto's face. Soon, the two teens made their way around Konoha to find a place to eat.  
  
=======================  
  
"So…" said Gaara hesitantly since he was never the one to make any conversation. "So… what is that interesting thing you said that you wanted to talk about?" Naruto gave him a grin.  
  
"Not the best conversationalist are you?" asked Naruto as he took a mouthful of ramen and swallowed it plainly with no feelings whatsoever of praising kami-sama for this invention. "Or are you just never the patient type?"  
  
"A little bit of both actually…" stated the red head flatly but it was honest. "What is this stuff?"  
  
"Ramen," answered Naruto as he took another bite. "Haven't you heard of it? It's not bad, you should try it my friend. You gotta eat something sooner or later. If you haven't heard of it… man, how badly isolated are you from the outside world?" Gaara glared at the dark shinobi as an immediate response. However, Naruto simply grinned back. "You seem upset to what I just said, is it because what I said is all true? You have been alone for some time now? Trust me Gaara-san, I know what it feels like to be like that."  
  
"How would you know though?" asked the Sand genin suspiciously. "Why are you so certain that what you said just now is all true?"  
  
"Because, I know that you are the same as I am. The first day I met you I already figured out you and I were very similar. The way you act towards Kankuro showed me enough, you can't fool my eyes. You have a demon within yourself, just like me." Gaara was stunned at this truth, it was sort of too overwhelming for him to accept. He didn't know how he should react, the fact that his secret was completely open to a stranger or the fact that this total mystery boy was exactly like him. "Gaara-san, those eyes of yours tell me a lot…"  
  
"Just who are you anyway?" asked Gaara somewhat frustrated. "You just come up to me and say that you're a demon like me while you don't even know me! I don't understand this, how could my secret be exposed to you as if it was right in front of your face? I don't get this! If you don't tell me… I…"  
  
"Will kill you?" questioned the silver hair boy calmly as he took a zip of water. Gaara's raccoon like eyes widened at what he said. "You can't hide a thing from my eyes, especially not the demon. Do you feel lonely and painful with that curse that was brought upon you? Do you feel unfair as if the world was against you ever since the day you were born?" The Sand genin slowly nodded as he took a bite out of the mysterious ramen. He had to admit that it was decent, not like he would say it though so openly. "Believe me, I felt this way ever since I figured out I had the demon within me at the age of 5 to 6. Realizations began to hit me, why no one liked me, why no kids wanted to be my friends or even if they did their parents would simply want to pull them back…"   
  
"I think I went through worse…" said Gaara.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Based on what you said, it seemed like the kids don't know about this demon of yours, am I right?" Naruto nodded in response as he dug out more noodles. "Unfortunately for me, everyone in my village knew who I was. They hated me ever since I was born, adults and kids included. All of them had either a sense of fear or rejection or hatred in their eyes. So unlike you, I may not have any friends…"  
  
"You really didn't have any friends?"  
  
"No, did you?"  
  
"I did, she became the most important person in my life until I became a renegade and left the village until recently. She became my source of strength, she didn't know of course. I would melt to see her happy face everyday, it would pain me when she cried, I would laugh with her when something was funny… those were the only happy times when I was a kid…"  
  
"What made you leave though?" asked Gaara with interest. He wasn't trying to make fun of him or anything, he was quite curious.  
  
"I'll tell you some other time," answered the Death Knight. "You can say that my life was then dedicated to killing and training afterwards. Knowing the demon within myself… I knew life would only be a living hell, I needed to be strong to protect myself until I met another person."  
  
"Who was this person then?"  
  
"You don't need to know her, she also showed me a lot of things. The most important person important people in your life are the things that hold value to you. You would do anything to make them feel happy, warm, accepted, appreciated, wanted, needed, make them feel or know they are something worthy… she helped me realize this one day very indirectly. I valued her and she felt the same way. I realized that there are many kind people out there who are a lot more open and accepting than others. If we continue to look one direction, we would never see what's happening behind us or around us."  
  
"Why are you so sure about this? We are demons, nobody would acknowledge us!" argued Gaara sadly.  
  
"I have people who do accept me for who I am. Trust me, there will always be people out there who will see the Gaara the human instead of Gaara the monster. There are people waiting to be wanted and cared for, you could be the person to satisfy that emptiness for them. Believe me, once they trust you… they won't think the demon was anything. Think of it this way, if you were actually a demon, why the hell would you care for them to begin with?"  
  
"You may have a point there… but I was once foolish enough to believe there was a thing called kindness in this world. It was then I truly felt hated… it wasn't the best introduction as to what this world had to offer."  
  
"You're right," chuckled Naruto slightly. "This world has nothing to offer if we don't look for it. I know it may seem too hard for you to digest this in one conversation but killing people to feel satisfied won't ever satisfy you. Even today I want vengeance for what this village gave me but there are those who are here that are precious to me. If I set my heart on this plot of revenge… I will hurt those who…"  
  
"Care about you?" asked Gaara snorting a little bit. "I wish I had people like that."  
  
"You just need someone to understand, Gaara-san." The Death Knight gave him a pat on the shoulder encouragingly. "I understand you completely, you have no clue how much I know."  
  
"Naruto…" said Gaara. "How could you be so light about this? Don't you hate what you are? Hadn't this thing inside you caused you enough torment the way it did already? I hate myself with this monster and I see you being so carefree and caring and all that! I don't see how you do it!"  
  
"I hate myself too, I wanted to kill myself for living such a life. But I would also pain too many people if I died or do something that would worry them. Once you know you are something to just one person would mourn over you over and over after something tragic happened to you, you know that person sees the real you." replied Naruto with a grin. "I'm cold like you, but warmer to people who understand the real me. Gaara-san, I'm willing to be your friend. I know why you react like you do or even decide to do things the way you want to. You want to satisfy yourself right?"  
  
"How do I do it though? Everyone seems to be against me…"  
  
"Cut that crap, dwelling in your own self-pity won't change shit you know!" shouted Naruto not with much fury in his voice. "Change is hard, I know that… it took me a long while to see things a little bit more clearly. You may still hate those people who did whatever they did to you but always keep this in mind, there's always someone out there who would see the real you not your reputation or anything else that may change their perspective."  
  
"Why do you care so much though? Why do you bother to want me feel wanted and accepted? I appreciate that you understand but…" The Death Knight then flashed him a serious glare, it gave Gaara the shivers done his spine. His sudden change was frightening.  
  
"Gaara-san," explained Naruto with a deadly tone. "In the chunnin exam I sensed that you wanted to find something important to me… you wanted to tear it away from me. I meant what I said earlier, you could hide nothing from me. Not now, not ever. You dare threaten my friends or hurt anyone who is valued to me for sheer entertainment, I'll make sure you know what the true meaning of death means! Despite how damn angry I am with you, I still want you to realize something. Even though we have demons within ourselves, it's not worth it to live it as if it's all hopeless and killing others or dwell in self pity are the only solutions. Someone can fill in the gap of that loneliness and make it into something great. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow. But remember, whatever happens don't give up on yourself. If you forfeit, no one would be able to help you from there."  
  
"I… thank you… Naruto…" said Gaara sincerely for once. "Are we friends then?"  
  
"As long as you don't hurt my friends that is," joked Naruto with a chuckle.  
  
"Hey, just because we are friends it doesn't mean I'll go easy on you on the exams!"  
  
"Never intended you to, it's getting late, Gaara-san. We should get going now." Gaara silently agreed and left the ramen restaurant in a more cheerful mood. The two talked a little bit more before they parted their different ways back to the places they were staying for the night.  
  
======================  
  
Naruto checked his watch, it was around 9:58 PM already. He didn't realize that he had been out for so long. After leaving his place in the mid-afternoon, he had to admit time certainly did fly when you were having fun. As he turned his keys to his apartment, he gave out a slight yawn in exhaustion. After locking his door, he made his way to the kitchen and took a cup of water. The place was quiet and knowing he had 2 visitors here, he thought he shouldn't have a feeling that he was completely alone in the area. He saw a note on the table, it was a message from Rin and Haku.  
  
"To Naruto-ni-san," he read out loud. "I thought you would've been home by the time we came back but you weren't here. So, we decided to leave you a few words. Haku-sempai and I got an apartment from the Hokage to stay at. I really don't want to bother you at your place since you have your own girl to deal with. Please meet us at the Hokage's office at 10 AM tomorrow morning so we could give you all the details about today's meeting. Writing it out now would be too annoying for me. See you there. Love Rin and Haku." _'How nice,'_ thought Naruto. _'Looks like those two would have a lot of fun without me_.' He placed that note on top of the coffee table and made his way to his room to gather clothes after his shower. As he entered, he saw that someone was sleeping in his futon. He sighed once he figured it was no other than Hinata, his girlfriend._ 'Looks like Hinata-chan didn't go home tonight… she really doesn't need to stay with me…'_  
  
He kneeled down to her level and stroked her cheek softly. She was so cute sleeping so soundly. He sighed with a smile on his face and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. _'Well, one night wouldn't hurt I suppose,' _he said in his mind. _'I'll just sleep in the guest room then… after I take a shower that is.'_ With that thought ended, the boy made his way to the bathroom without much sound so he wouldn't abruptly wake her. Within 10 minutes or so, he came back out all dressed and took his pillow from his futon and prepared his way to the room next door. However, someone grabbed his wrist making him stop in his tracks, he knew the girl was awake.  
  
"Naruto-kun…" cooed Hinata softly. The boy simply sighed lightly.  
  
"You have been awake all this time haven't you?" he asked teasingly, somewhat.  
  
"Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked innocently while sitting up slightly.  
  
"Never mind," stated Naruto. "I'm sleeping in the next room, I'll go now."  
  
"Please stay with me, Naruto-kun…" she pleaded cutely and a little bit seducing. "I want you here, I haven't seen you for so long already…"  
  
"Hina-chan," he said. "You already miss me for not seeing me for only 6 hours?"  
  
"Of course!" she exclaimed hugging him closely. "You are my Naruto-kun after all." The Death Kniight chuckled a bit at that response, it seemed a little bit blind. "Can we sleep together then?" she then asked hopefully holding him closer while she pushed herself a little towards him.  
  
"I don't know…" replied Naruto feeling a bit of her chest on his. Like mentioned before, he had an incredible ability not to get into a seductive trance or anything like that. He simply kissed her on the forehead and gave her a smile. "I'll pass." However, Hinata's words weren't a request, she then launched herself at him to a kiss. A kiss that she desperately waited to get from him for some time.   
  
Despite how much willpower the boy had, when the girl was able to get this close, it was just hard not to accept this sweet tasting sensation. He soon forgot what he just said and pulled her by the waist to his body feeling all her curves. She was definitely gorgeous, he knew he was in love with her even though he didn't show it too much. When they were alone, it was a whole different story but he still refused to get seduced. Was he getting seduced right now? Not really, you all could say he gave in before anything seductive acts were performed. He deepened the kids by leaning his head closer to hers, she responded by allowing her tongue to brush his lips wanting entrance into his mouth. He couldn't refuse that kind of offer, anyone who rejected his Hinata's touch was an idiot. She scoured his mouth pleasantly and she made sure she took her time as well trying to give the boy as much pleasure as she could offer. Naruto secretly loved it when she kissed him, she always gave her all to him as if he was all hers, it was true, Naruto was hers. He then slowly did the same and scouted her sweet mouth, she moaned into his pleasantly which made him melt inside knowing she was happy and he was doing a decent job at it.  
  
The Hyuga girl then pushed him on the futon and laid on top of him breathing heavily since she was getting out of breath. The boy however, showed no signs that he was tired or out of air, he just smiled at the gorgeous face that was above his, Hyuga Hinata was truly his goddess, nothing would ever change that. She felt like the happiest girl on earth, Hinata today couldn't believe after all these years of waiting she finally had him. Her Naruto was and always will be her safety, her comfort, her light, her guidance, her strength, her encouragement and most importantly her one and only love.  
  
"Do you love me?" asked the Hyuga heiress sweetly.  
  
"Do you even need to ask?" questioned Naruto as he wrapped his arms around her narrow waist.  
  
"I don't know about that, you seem to like Rin-san a lot. You've been spending the entire time with her and Haku-san the entire day. I really don't know if you have feelings for Rin-san…"  
  
"Rin-chan is my sister, Hina-chan," Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. "I already told you, Rin is just my sibling and yes I love her too but not the same way I love you. So don't worry about it, okay?"  
  
"Can you still say those three words to me?" requested Hinata gently to his ear.  
  
"You know I feel that way towards you."   
  
"I love hearing those words come out of your mouth," she said lovingly. "Can you say it for me?" At that point, who was he to disappoint her? Only a fool would upset his favorite girl at a time like this.  
  
"I love you, Hyuga Hinata," he said as he kissed her cheek. "I'll love you now and forever as long as this body is able to draw air."  
  
"I love you so much, Naruto-kun…" she moaned with pleasure. "Will you leave me?"  
  
"I'll stay by your side forever." He then kissed her on the lips once again giving her the best amount of love he could muster, this was already overwhelming for the Hyuga girl but she willing accepted all of it and showed no signs of hesitation of returning more back. The two loving couple embraced in that position for a long period of time giving each other all the pleasure that they were hungry for. When both were finally satisfied they slept in each other's arms lovingly with Hinata kissing Naruto's neck when she took every breath. Naruto couldn't help but smile during the night each time she did that, her lips were amazingly soft and gentle. Once their midnight activities have ended, the two slept peacefully until daybreak.

AN: Not much needs to be said here, squad training sucks! Damn this was hell of a long of a chapter… there was definitely around 11000 words this time around. Damn, I think I'm going crazy… I'm finishing such a large project in such a short amount of time that I don't even believe it. You all could refer this chapter as a short intermission between the exam period, I gave them 2 days on purpose of course. I hope I satisfied some of you action fans out there today, I possibly even made some of you who like psychology felt interested. Yes, I'm looking forward to go on to the human mind and psychology field, I'm quite good at it. Anyway, enough about me, thank you for reading this story! I so appreciate you for devoting your time to read this, if you want to complete this mission successfully, please click on the violet REVIEW button and give me a comment or so, I always liked my story to be appreciated someway. Now, I'm just going to wait patiently for one specific story to come out and hopefully read some of you reader's stories, I'm looking forward to see your creative creations as well!  
  
One final note, I may be working the next week for the next 3 weeks, I may slow down the update process. It doesn't mean that I won't continue this story though. I really want to finish this before the summer ends or what not. I'll try my best, please wish me the best of luck! Thank you all who are supporting me spiritually and secretly, you have no idea how much you guys are actually helping me. Later for now!


	14. Forest of Death

**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT:**  
  


Chapter 14: Forest of Death

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own nothing! No need for me to waste my time while I can kill my Sergeants for sheer entertainment. _(Takes out the Assault Rifle and mows down 3 of them execution style.)  
_  
"…": Speech  
  
_'…'_: Thoughts  
  
===: Scene Change.

AN: Okay, so killing them wasn't the greatest and wisest decision this grunt made sometime in his life. Fun while it lasted, now instead of an execution that I so deserve, they are sending me on a mission with a very low chance of survival… man, they really want to get rid of me don't they? If you're nodding right now, I can't blame you. Who would forgive someone that loved it when he wiped out over half his squadron on purpose and calls it accident? Not only that, I felt no remorse. Better yet, what kind of soldier messes up a teamwork mission that cost the entire platoon to be in jeopardy. I shouldn't be a chunnin if I'm given the chance shouldn't I? _(Moments later)_ I'm glad you all like or possibly love my story, don't know if I should've used that word… maybe I shouldn't have but what the heck. Thank you all for your support so far, at least I know some of you actually appreciate this. There have been some that haven't been too great in the past but I will let it slide. Some were supportive nonetheless, I respect that. Maybe I should use this respect thing towards my friendly grunts so I could avoid these death missions from time to time. Hell, I'm taking these tasks as if they are normal, I'm just your ordinary 'jerk' who loves to see blood fly. Please enjoy the next chapter, I really would like you guys see this something that this world could offer to you. It's not everyday that there's someone willing to write out fiction for people to read. I'm going in the human psychology again, just enjoy the chapter, okay? THANKS!  
  
**__**

**_Question and Answer Period:_**

1Q: Am I really in the army?  
  
1A: The answer is obviously no. I am interested in both military and mental sufferings of a soldier though. I like to study them and know more about their problems. Sure, I would love to carry a rifle and kill those bastard drill sergeants and all but in reality, I'm not that cruel. I love to kill things in Opposing Force though, friends, allies, and enemies alike. Hell, I would love to kill the people who taught me good things. To anyone who thought I'm really in the army, you should've figured out I'm not. They are just jokes I love to make and make you readers out there read something a little funny other than just notes. Just how could I still be in the army IF I enjoyed killing my comrades by accident? Okay, I accidentally did it on purpose. That alone could get me executed and literally executed. It's unforgivable. I am just a 17 year old guy who's not ONLY single, but trying his best to get into the psychology field in university. Good to get this cleared.  
  
2Q: How do I get my ideas of the Life and Death thing? _(ONE reader asked me that, a recent loyal reader to be more specific. Looks like you're a person like me!)_  
  
2A: If you want to know, which I am more than willing to tell you, they are references from movies, songs, real life situations, drama and personal experiences. The Third-theme of Naruto is already a very good inspiration. Read the words carefully and you could develop you own kind of solution or look deeper into it. There are a lot of things you could add and ponder about it. That's the reason I love Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni _(Sadness into Kindness_), it was really different. GO was also good as well. I hope I answered that question.  
  
3Q: Are Hinata and Naruto and others too young?  
  
3A: This is where I need to express my self very clear. To those readers who sent me a complaint about this (Yes, those who said absolutely nothing good but rant. If you said something like at least you're making a good story, I wouldn't have taken your review to that much frustration.), let me tell you something, this is my story, my rules. Don't like it, don't read it, don't complain. I seriously don't give a damn but if your words begin to affect me in any negative way, I have a problem. Let's see how you like it if someone just flames you for your work. I have been called a complete stupid moron by one reader for no reason, you think I liked it? If you don't like to feel that way, don't do it to me. I'm not your relieving pain puppet.   
  
If you think they are too young, well think about it this way then. In anime the people are like 3 years more mature anyway unless they are really obvious not at that level yet. I have explained this somewhere before if I recall correctly _(Check my previous chapters if you wish to do so, not like you would I bet.)_. If you want me to ruin the story a little bit, there will be a time that they are like 17-18. Those who are patient enough to see this, I'm glad to have your support. Naruto is obviously very mature, you can think of him as the most amazing person alive in terms of self-control. Let me say this, if a hot girl stripped in front of him, it would have no effect whatsoever. He would simply do things as if the girl did nothing. If it's Hinata… I won't say that much to ruin anymore than I already have. Keep reading to find out!   
  
****

**AN: Let the story begin…**  
  
Hinata strangely woke up quite early at daybreak. She looked at the clock that was behind her head, it said 7:43 AM. She smiled at the time knowing she was early enough to make her boyfriend a good breakfast. The girl broke out of the embrace she was in and kissed her lover softly on the cheek. Naruto showed no response to it, he just continued to sleep. Knowing his cold and collected nature, the Hyuga heiress smiled anyway and made her way to the bathroom to do her daily routines. She was glad she secretly brought some of her belonging here, she was beginning to claim this place as her own sooner or later. As the washroom door closed, the dark warrior opened his eyes as if he was awake the entire time showing no signs of sleepiness. He quickly sat up with a straight face and untied the bandages on his right arm that he usually had. He was glad that Hinata didn't see what he had underneath it last night for it was dark. As he revealed it, there was a long sword cut on it from yesterday's battle. He sighed in relief that it was showing good progress of healing, this wound took amazingly long to recover despite his healing abilities. That chunnin meant to take his life if he was just a bit careless. He got up from his sitting position and quickly examined his black jacket. Indeed there was a rip in his sleeve. He grunted in annoyance as he figured he needed to wear something else today. It made no difference, he wore the same type of clothing everyday.  
  
20 minutes later the bathroom door opened revealing a very refreshed Hinata with a bright smile on her face. She was surprised to see Naruto gone already from his bedroom, she figured he was a light sleeper unless he was seriously wounded. She sighed at her boyfriend's amazing endurance and habits. She didn't know how he lived such a disciplined life. _'Oh, Naruto-kun...'_ she thought sighing. _'You can be such a mystery sometimes...'_ Shoving that thought out of her mind, she went to the kitchen to fix breakfast so she wouldn't need to see her Naruto go hungry a little later. Meanwhile, the Death Knight was on the apartment roof enjoying the breeze of the morning winds. He simply sat with his chin on his knees somewhat, ignoring anything around him. He enjoyed the quietness in things, it made him able to concentrate any surroundings given to him. After an unknown period of time that felt like eternity, he got back up watching Konoha from a higher view one last time. _'Konoha,'_ thought Naruto. _'How I will always hate you as long as I live. If it isn't for Hokage-sama, Jiraiya, Kakashi-san, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and the other rookies and genins… you would already have ceased to exist by now. They are also the heroes who're helping you fateless cowards to defend Konoha, as if you people would ever be able to realize the truth to see it.'_ As a sorrowful smirk came across his face before he turned to his favorite novel. He then silently read in his mind.  
  
_'Chapter by Hatake Kakashi… I can't believe Kakashi had something in here…'_ he thought. The Death Knight paid very close attention to this. _'Life treats no one equally, it's true, it really doesn't. My life had a lot of obstacles behind it. Sure, a lot of people thought of my life would be a good one, an easy one. Believe me, between just you and me, I'll say that wasn't true. It wasn't then and it isn't now. When I was young, I was always known as a genius amongst people my age. They would know I was skilled in almost every way, they would want the abilities I possessed. I'm glad I had this kind of talent, I was never proud of it, just grateful for it and happy that they respected me. I never wanted fame, I just wanted to be myself and want them to see me as Hatake Kakashi, just another guy living in Konoha. I became a chunnin at 6, I was proud of myself, I was glad that I made my parents proud. I became a genin at 5, I earned the chunnin title at the age of 6. For several years that I became a chunnin, I started to train myself harder to be an Anbu member. I strive myself to get stronger for the sake of Konoha, I wanted to protect it. However, I never hurt anyone, never committed any crimes, I never broke the law, why did I had such a result? Why did I have to receive this fate? This harsh reality was always inside me making me feel endless regret.'  
  
'It was that day when I was 15 when my first and only girlfriend I had was killed by an accident. She was killed by a psychotic woman one night who had hallucination problems and other mental disorders. Witnesses said that she had a serious case of seeing people who abused her in the past. I kept asking myself why did it have to be my girlfriend who suffered and became the victim? Why the murderer had to have mental problems? I took it really hard, my friends and family kept telling me that it was an accident, I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I know it was an accident, everyone told me that this was an accident but is it because this was an accident I can't be sad or feel any regret? I was in deep sorrow and I couldn't tell others because there would be many people that would be sad because of my sadness. Who can I blame this on? I can't blame my girlfriend, she was the one that was killed. I want to blame myself but what could I have done at that time? I can't blame that bitch who killed her since she didn't even know what she was doing at that time or know the reason of her actions! I wanted to ask did this world even have the basic justification anymore? I wanted to seek what was the meaning of our existence? People only told me, you should know, you should understand what it was. However, all I realize now her death meant that she won't ever return. I only know that no one is there to help me… Why did it had to be her, why did all this have happen to only me!'   
_  
Naruto closed his book and shut his eyes in grimace. He didn't want this story to make his day all gloomy, but sadly enough the images of sadness and grief were stuck in his mind. Who could've known Kakashi had a major turn in his life, maybe the reason of his perverted actions could be a stimulant for his years of sorrow. He felt he should help his instructor in someway, byt what could he do, Naruto felt powerless. His put his book back into his pouch and stood up watching Konoha one last time. He smiled weakly and headed back to his apartment.  
  
======================  
  
A delicious aura was roaming around as the silver hair boy opened his front door. He knew at that instant it was his girlfriend's cooking. He didn't know how she could be this good, it nearly made him drool once like an uncontrollable insane maniac who didn't have something to eat in weeks. He made his way to the kitchen and blushed slightly as he saw Hinata. It wasn't like he was shy around her, it was what she was wearing. Instead of her tanktop and shinobi pants with the kunai holster equipped on her right thigh, she was wearing short and somewhat tight shorts which revealed a lot of leg. Damn, that alone was attractive but when he focussed on her top… he was just looking at it as if it was the most interesting thing in this world. In truth, observing a girl's top wasn't the greatest idea most of the time, but the tight white T-shirt she was wearing… it was drawing his attention. Not to mention the shirt was low cut, it exposed more than enough cleavage. Believe me, this dark shinobi never saw her girlfriend's busts before, he had felt it enough times when she hugged him but he always hugged her back ignoring it. Normally, he wouldn't care too much about how women liked to dress but Hinata was different, she looked very… sexy in that.  
  
"Good morning, Hina-chan…" he managed to choke out when she turned around to face him smiling with delight. He had a lot of trouble in deciding to look at her or not. If he didn't, he would be quite disrespectful. This person was his girlfriend! If he did though, he couldn't help himself from looking lower to her chest and observe her cleavage. Now, he was beginning to understand what Haku meant by human temptation, it was something hard to resist. "You… look… look… great!"  
  
"Thank you," she said with a blush knowing why Naruto wasn't really looking at her. She noticed that uncertain look on his face, even though his face had no blush whatsoever, it was never like him avoiding eye contact. "You like it if I fixed bacon and eggs with toast instead of ramen?"  
  
"Anything is fine!" he exclaimed rather quickly. "As long as you made it for me." The girl smiled back and walked to him. Just as he was about to leave believing he saw enough for one day, he felt the girl embracing him gently with her chest completely in contact with his back. The Death Knight blushed knowing what it was since that was what he thinking of the entire time. No, he wasn't dazing about it, he needed a way to get away from it. "Hina-chan…" he stuttered quite badly. "I suggest you don't do…"  
  
"What?" she asked innocently.  
  
"Nothing…" he answered as he ruffled her hair while he turned around. He kissed her closing his eyes and quickly made his way to the bathroom since he didn't fix up yet. As he locked the door, Hinata just sighed. _'Looks like Naruto-kun does think I'm pretty, I know what you're trying to avoid me, my dearest…'_ Soon later, the boy came back out with a grin on his face as if nothing happened at all. However, once he saw Hinata winking at him sweetly, he knew what was going to happen next. He sat down on the couch with his girlfriend next to him and ate his meal in silence like he always preferred to do. Hinata felt a little awkwardness within him this morning, it was like he was avoiding her. She knew he didn't talk much at meals but he always made eye contact and secretly admired her. Today, he did absolutely nothing but gave her a few smiles here and there. Soon that was done, he would revert his attention back on the food as if it was his soul.  
  
"Naruto-kun…" she whispered.  
  
"What is it, Hina-chan?" he asked only looking at her by the face.  
  
"Why are you… a bit different today?"  
  
"How so?" he questioned a bit panicking.  
  
"You haven't been looking at me the way that I love you to today…"  
  
"Don't be silly!" said Naruto in a really not himself tone. He sighed knowing escaping would be useless. "Hinata-chan… I just don't want to feel like a pervert… you know… tight shorts, tight shirts…"  
  
"You don't like it?" she asked holding his hand while bending down slightly in an unintentional manner. That alone gave him quite a view of her bust. He blushed a bit and looked away.  
  
"No, I think you're very… attractive in this thing, I mean it! It's just that I'm afraid I might lose myself to my own thoughts… you have to admit that you're really urging me to kiss you…"  
  
"Then kiss me then." Hinata stated in a seductive manner.  
  
"I can't do that…"  
  
"You like what you see?" she asked as she pushed herself at him purposely giving him a very good view at you know all what. (AN: Trust me, I like reading it, I don't like writing this too much. I don't want ANY of you to believe that I'm a pervert in any way.) He blushed tried to turn away but he found it not possible. He could've fainted but decided to remain calm. At that point she was nearly on top of him preparing to kiss the only boy she could ever love in her life.   
  
"Damn, you are so… hot…" She wanted him already, the girl couldn't stand one day not to kiss him. As she pinned his right arm making him to remain still, he quickly winced at the pain the wound was giving him. She noticed this immediately and released him. He sat up and held his arm in an injured state, the Hyuga girl obviously didn't know why he was injured to begin with. All she could do was comfort him.   
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"It's okay, Hina-chan, it's just a flesh wound… somewhat rather…" he answered with a fake grin.  
  
"How did it happen?" she asked with concern.  
  
"Let's just say I had a very welcoming party yesterday afternoon."  
  
"An ambush, I suppose?" she corrected knowing his dark humor very well. He nodded with a smile. "What happened then? How many people were there?"  
  
"We slaughtered about 2 dozen chunnins," said the Death Knight with a satisfied look on his face. "It was something to remember…"  
  
"You killed them this time?" she asked again not really feeling much remorse since she already figured out the reason of the so-called welcoming party or A.K.A unfriendly ambush. Since when were ambushed ever considered to be friendly anyway? "Naruto-kun…"  
  
"They deserved it," spat Naruto straight to the point. "Their deaths sure made me feel complete…"  
  
"Killing would never satisfy you."  
  
"I know, but not when their fate was sealed by this doom. Never mind those fateless cowards, I'm sure hell are accepting them quite well right now. Hey, I gave them the easy way out, I'm sure the ones who are still alive are suffering the wrath of the punishment that Hokage-sama promised to give them. I certainly don't want to be in their position right now."  
  
"I suppose you're right…" admitted Hinata hugging him closer to herself. Naruto kissed his ever so gorgeous Hyuga heiress and gave her a smile.  
  
"We have to meet with Kakashi this morning for the second exam info, we should leave around now." Hinata nodded while Naruto shook his head a little. "You better change into something a lot less revealing if you're going out." The girl blushed immediately.  
  
"You know I would only do this for you!" she exclaimed shyly. The Death Knight simply gave a soft laugh before the girl went to his room to change. Within a several minutes, the duo exited the apartment and headed straight for Team 7's usual meeting spot.  
  
======================  
  
"Naruto-ni-chan!" exclaimed Sakura immediately when she saw her favorite brother. Okay, he was her only brother. The pink hair girl gave him a big sisterly hug which unknowingly was taking all the air that was within him. He was gasping for the something he needed, oxygen.  
  
"Medic! I need… air…" gasped the Death Knight as he tried as hard as he could to get himself out of her grip. Hinata just giggled amusingly when her boyfriend was dying. As Sakura heard his airy response, she let go immediately and kissed him on the lips. (AN: No tongues involved.)  
  
"I'm sorry," said Sakura giving him her best innocent puppy look. "I just wanted to see you."  
  
"I know you do, Sakura-chan…" replied the dark shinobi coughing and inhaling a bit more air. "Just watch out for your strength… you really need to figure how strong you are…"  
  
"I thought my great brother was strong though. I never knew a simply hug would hurt you." she teased.  
  
"Well," he said questioningly. "In that kind of situation… it's me with my so-called invulnerability against your stamina. You're hurting me a lot more than me hurting you." Sakura had to agree with that logic while Hinata continued to giggle. "Now, where is that guy anyway?"  
  
"Which guy?" asked the lavender eye girl.  
  
"He meant me, Hinata." said Kakashi appearing on the railing of the bridge.  
  
"Kakashi-san," said Naruto impressed. "You're actually on time today, what's the catch?"  
  
"There's no catch, Naruto," stated the jounin amused. "I think you need to know about the mission briefings of the second exam, right?"  
  
"Yeah," said Sakura energetically. "I want to know about the instructor though…"  
  
"Mitarashi Anko… she seems to be a 'unique' person…" added Naruto.  
  
"Oh, she's the examiner?" asked Kakashi somewhat surprised. The three nodded as the Sharingan user seemed to be satisfied at the answer.  
  
"What about her? Is there something that we should know about Anko-sensei?" asked Hinata.  
  
"Oh, other than the fact that she's a Special Jounin like Morino Ibiki and I know that she's very strict about important exams like this. Mercy or grace isn't something in her vocabulary." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Anyway, I'm sure her character wouldn't affect you guys in any way… here's the info of the meeting place. It's called Area 44, it's on the north side of Konoha in the north forest training area."  
  
"I have been there before," said Naruto. "But I never saw an area called that before…"  
  
"That's because you need to go further north, you'll see it, don't worry about it," answered Kakashi. "Now, you need to meet there at 1:30 PM sharp to listen to further instructions. Tomorrow is the big day for you guys, I hope you guys do well."  
  
"We won't disappoint you!" exclaimed Sakura and Hinata while Naruto gave him a grin.  
  
"What's with you guys being so nice today?" questioned the jounin.  
  
"No reason," answered the Death Knight still having that grin. "I'll be heading to the Hokage's office now, later for now, Kakashi-san." With that, Naruto formed a familiar hand seal and warped away without another word. Hinata smiled and made her way back to Naruto's apartment to prepare something when he returns, she was always there to make him feel welcomed.  
  
======================  
  
On the morning of the 2nd test, Team 7 with Haku and Rin were heading towards the designated location, Area 44. Rin could tell the unusual collected attitude of her brother was something she should be concerned of. The odds were quite against him, on each team that he was familiar of, there was always a very worthy opponent. Gaara, Lee, Neji, Shino, Sasuke were all Naruto's targets that he must take down. As mentioned before, Naruto couldn't hide anything from Rin.  
  
"Naruto-ni-san," said Rin. "You worried?"  
  
"A little bit…" admitted Naruto trying his best not to allow his emotions rub off to his other teammates.  
  
"No matter what, do you best okay?" said Haku encouragingly. The Death Knight silently nodded as a response.  
  
"What is training Area 44 anyway?"  
  
"I have no idea, I never even heard of this place before." answered Sakura. "Do you know, Hinata-san?"  
  
"I asked father last evening, he told me that that place was guarded carefully. He also said that it was a good place for survival training for both chunnins and jounins."  
  
"Survival training? Seems like risky business…"  
  
"I think that our next test would be one like that…"  
  
"I doubt it would be that easy," said Naruto rather bluntly. "Regardless, we are going to deal with it, right?" The two girls on his team nodded while the other male and female simply smiled.  
  
"Why are Haku and Rin-san here, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura.  
  
"I'm helping Haku-sempai with the medical stuff since there may be injured shinobis this time around." explained Rin.  
  
"Yeah, I applied for medical training yesterday and you can say this is my first task." said Haku with a smile. "I got a several days to get myself ready."  
  
"You're a fast learner," stated the Death Knight. "I'm sure you'll do fine."  
  
"Thanks for saying so, my little bastard."  
  
"Who are you calling a bastard?" snapped Naruto in a joking manner. "You're the one who liked to pull those stunts to begin with, you arrogant dumbass!"  
  
"What did you call me?" It was then the two males started to engage a fist fight. The three girls sighed, well, Hinata was trying to explain that getting killed before the exam. Obviously, Naruto just wanted to kick Haku's ass, he was being ignorant. Well, some of his reckless behaviour was still in him, he would only show it when he was with really familiar people.  
  
"Naruto-kun… if you get seriously get hurt now… how on earth are you suppose to take the exam?" pleaded Hinata holding his hand softly but firm. The Death Knight sighed heavily and gave her a smile.  
  
"Fine, you made your point…" he muttered as he brushed himself back together. With that said, the 5 dashed through the village and headed north to the vicinity that awaited their presence.  
  
======================  
  
Within a matter of minutes, the 5 teens made it to area 44 with Anko and the other teams. Rin and Haku immediately disappeared once they arrived. Of course, they didn't tell Naruto what they were doing since it would spoil the exam for him and that would be cheating. Haku and Rin needed to get to the tower for their preparations, they already knew the exam detail but of course telling Naruto would be illegal. The Death Knight observed the area around him carefully, the vicinity that was in front of him had large and high metal fences blocking entry. On the barriers, there were danger signs, warning signs and other notices that enter with extreme caution. Everywhere else around him seemed to be normal other than the area that looked like a creepy and dangerous forest with massive trees. Conveniently, that was the area with all the blockades. Hinata gulped while Sakura couldn't picture what they could be doing in a place like that. It really wasn't a welcoming feeling. To the girls, that area looked more like a living hell than a forest, the wild growth seemed to a deliberate thing, as if it served a purpose. The purpose must've been what Hinata explained earlier. If he was more aware of the time, he would've noticed that they were the latest ones there.  
  
"It's about time that you showed up, Team 7," said Anko with a sense of mockery. "Has Kakashi been teaching you three to be late? You with the sword, were you late because you were flirting with your teammates?" Some of the genins giggled while some decided to remain quiet. Those who did were the leaf genins, they knew better that Naruto wouldn't do something like that at a time as critical like this. The Death Knight's eyes remained the same, but then it turned teal. It was obvious that Anko wasn't the most serious person around until necessary. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she continued not noticing his eyes of hidden hatred.  
  
"Are you done?" asked Naruto coldly while piercing at her with sight alone. "If you refuse to stop now, you leave me no choice but to hurt you."  
  
"Big words, little genin," taunted Anko. "You know a man should stick to his…" Suddenly the Special Jounin was trapped in the dark shinobi's lock, his right arm gripped both of her arms together tightly and his blade was centimeters away from her throat. "How did you?"  
  
"It wouldn't make a difference if I told you, little human," said Naruto. His words were colder than ice itself. "If I said it, I could do it. You should be glad that you're the instructor in this exam since I still need you to tell us what we need to do for this test. If you were anyone else, I can ensure you that you wouldn't be trying to draw air right now. Don't think because you're a Special Jounin you could say whatever you want."  
  
"You think you can kill me?" she questioned.  
  
"Anko-san," said Naruto now flashing his eyes. "I guarantee it." The Leaf genins then twitched at his words, it was frightening. Not only that he had both strength and wisdom in what he said, he also had the sense of authority. They all knew Naruto wasn't your average genin, picking fights with that guy meant you wanted to receive your death sentence early. Sakura and Hinata weren't too surprised at what their male teammate just did, Anko's words made them upset as well. Not a lot, but still a bit. Naruto released the woman and withdrew his blade, Anko couldn't help but sweat a few bullets. However, she quickly regained her calmness.  
  
"I will now tell you your instructions for the second test," began Anko trying to take out the uneasiness in her voice. "The second test is a survival test. Your main objective is to make it into the tower that's in the center of Area 44. This place is also called the Forest of Death."  
  
"Why is it called that?" asked Sasuke.  
  
"You'll figure out yourself soon enough. Now, of course, your task wouldn't be just simply go to the tower, that would be too easy wouldn't it? In order to pass your test, your team must have the required scrolls. The black earth scroll and the white heaven scroll. Once your team obtains both of these, you may proceed to the tower legally. Each team would start with one of the two scrolls. In order to get the other scroll, you have to obtain it from another team."  
  
"Now I see what she meant by cutting in half…" muttered Neji to Tenten and Lee.  
  
"This ensures that half of the teams wouldn't pass." said Lee.  
  
"Quite an evil plot that they set up, ne, Lee, Neji-kun?" asked Tenten. They simply smirked.  
  
"This also proves which teams have skill and which ones don't," explained Anko. "Inside, you will have 120 hours to complete this task meaning 5 days. Once you're inside, you can't back out or forfeit. You have to remain in there until time is up. Another thing, you're not allowed to take a look at what's inside the scroll."  
  
"What happens if we do?" asked Hinata.  
  
"That will be a surprise." stated the Special Jounin with a grin.  
  
"Are there any rules of disqualification?" asked Shikamaru.  
  
"What about food though?" asked Chouji which interrupted his friend's important question.  
  
"There will be plenty of food inside the Forest of Death, it shouldn't be much of a problem. That's unless you have no hunting skills, that's not in my department to care, you're on your own. As for disqualifications, there are a few that you must know. One, you're not allowed to read whatever is in the scroll. Second, if someone on your team is unable to continue or dead. Lastly, if your team can't make it into the tower within the time limit with the two scrolls, you fail as well. Oh yeah, I almost forgot…" She then pulled out some forms that were within her jacket.  
  
"Waiver forms?" asked Naruto with a questioning look. "Why the hell do we need that for?"  
  
"There will be deaths in this one," she said with an unreliable smile. "If you sign this and you actually die… well, I won't be responsible." All the genins sweatdropped at her carefree behaviour (AN: I'm Canadian, there are some words I spell with UR instead of just an R, it is not incorrect, okay?), it sort of makes them wonder if Anko was actually worthy of her rank. _'Looks like she isn't one who likes to make things more difficult on herself,'_ thought the Uchiha. _'But what irony… she loves to make it hard on us…'_ "Once you fill in these forms, please return them to me so I know you're going to take it, the only time you can back out is now. Once that's done, please line up at that booth to receive your scroll." She then pointed at the specific booth, Team 7's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata but the Death Knight put his finger to her mouth softly. The girl loved it when he touched her in anyway. She wanted him to touch her.  
  
"I know, Hinata-chan…" whispered the silver hair genin.  
  
"You noticed too?" asked Sakura crossing her arms together.  
  
"The distribution booth had curtains on them, basically we don't know which team has the specific scroll that we may need. What this means is that everyone is enemy here, we have to take that into conclusion. Just be careful down here, our lives are on the line… just like Anko just said." The girls nodded and handed in their waiver forms just like Naruto. They went into the booth to receive a scroll from the chunnins. They handed a Heaven scroll to the team but Naruto wanted Hinata to carry it.  
  
"Naruto-kun… I don't want to carry it." Hinata said pushing the scroll back to him.  
  
"Someone's gotta carry it," he countered.  
  
"Why don't you take it then, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura.  
  
"I may draw too much attention, I'm sure many of them out there may target me first. It would be best for Hinata to escape if she could. I know it'll be fine." The two nodded and exited the booth while Neji's team entered.

"Don't you start failing on us now, Naruto," said Sasuke as all the teams had their scrolls. It was obvious that Hinata and Sakura were elsewhere.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I know Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan won't let me down." replied Naruto.  
  
"No matter what you do, take care of Sakura for me, okay?"  
  
"Like you even had to ask," Something then struck him. "You like Sakura-chan don't you Sasuke?" The Uchiha looked down to the ground embarrassed. He silently nodded. "If you like her, you asked her out yet?" The raven hair genin just shook his head. "Why not?"  
  
"Well, Sakura usually drags me along anywhere these days… I really don't need to ask her. Besides… it's too embarrassing at times…"  
  
"I see, but you gotta do it sometime soon. Anyway, I won't make you feel any more uncomfortable than you already are. I wish to see you make out of this thing successfully."  
  
"Same goes to you, Naruto," said the Uchiha giving him a low high five and a pat on the shoulder.  
  
========================  
  
"Neji-ni-san," called Hinata to her favorite cousin.  
  
"Hinata-sama…" said Neji somewhat surprised. "Why are you here?"  
  
"Can't your best cousin say a few words of good luck before the real deal starts?" she asked teasingly holding his arm gently.  
  
"I suppose, but I got Tenten to do that."  
  
"She's on your team though," she argued. "You need an outsider's help."  
  
"Isn't an outsider someone with absolutely no connection or relations whatsoever?" he justified.  
  
"Just be careful, okay?" Neji nodded and gave her a small hug. He knew how much Hinata loved hugs especially from the people she loved. He wasn't embarrassed or felt any reluctance since he knew Tenten wouldn't feel any jealousy towards this.  
  
"Sakura-san," said Lee holding both of the pink hair girl's hands tightly. "After this, would you make yourself available to go on a date with me?" He was persistent, Tenten and Sakura had to give him credit for that.  
  
"I don't think that would be possible…" said Sakura forcing a smile. "You're really not my type…"  
  
"Don't say that Sakura-san!" exclaimed Lee. "Just give me a chance, I know you would change your mind after you give me that chance!"  
  
"I would be your friend," explained Sakura. "But I don't think I would go out with you…"  
  
"C'mon Lee," stated Tenten holding his shoulder. "The girl has spoken, she doesn't want to date you so just drop it, okay?"  
  
"But Tenten, I know Sakura-san would like my company!" said Lee releasing the emerald eye genin's hands. "I have to try."  
  
"Look," said Tenten being the best friend she was. "I'm sure Sakura-chan and I admire your ability of persistence but you can't overdo it on these things. Give it time, okay? I'm only saying this because you're my best friend, if I was anyone else, I would've let you embarrass the crap out of yourself already."  
  
"Thanks for saying so, Tenten…" admitted Lee with defeat.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lee-san…" apologized Sakura.  
  
"No need to apologize!" exclaimed the thick brow taijutsu specialist cheerfully. "As long as you're giving me a chance, that's all I wanted to hear!" Sakura smiled at Lee, he was similar to Naruto but just brighter and more cheerful. He took things the best possible way without hurting people, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of respect for him by the last words he said.  
  
========================  
  
Moments later, all the teams were waiting at the respective gates. Team 7 had gate 23, not like it really mattered. The distance between the gate and the tower made no difference in the long run. As the clock struck 2:30, the gates were opened and most of the ninjas rushed in. Hinata and Sakura dashed in fairly quickly with Naruto behind them. Once they reached 50 meters into the forest, they leaped high to the trees and waited for their next move. Naruto knew diving in there like a blind bat was the last thing you wanted to do. They needed to stay clear for now and let them duke it out for the time being. When the others get worn out from their fights, it would be their time to strike. A strong and coordinated team always had their limits, the ideal time wouldn't be now, it would be later. They continued to proceed a little bit deeper into the forest to find a good area as a checkpoint. Once they found one, it was then the now blindfolded Naruto decided to make a halt.  
  
"Ni-chan, why did you stop?" asked Sakura making some marks on a tree.  
  
"I sense many chakra levels around here… it would be wise to figure out who they are." He answered as he continued to look around cautiously.  
  
"Can't your eyes detect who they are?"  
  
"I can read signatures only and I can't see if they are too far away. Besides, I haven't even read these levels before, it would impossible for me to know who it is." Hinata then nodded in understanding.  
  
"Byakugan!" exclaimed Hinata quietly while she observed things from a 3km radius. Her eyesight was getting a lot better, she knew she could search even further but there wasn't a need to. She scanned carefully and picked up a team heading their way. "Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, I see a Mist team heading our way…"  
  
"A Mist team?" asked Sakura. The Hyuga girl nodded.  
  
"I'll leave it to you," said Naruto forming a several hand seals.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Hinata to her boyfriend. "We need you here right now!"  
  
"I'll prepare an ambush for them, you two stay here, pretend you don't know they are here, okay? When they reveal themselves, then fight them. If they see me, we will lose our chance."  
  
"Can we handle it?" asked Sakura doubtfully.  
  
"Have more confidence in yourself," he said then giving both of them a kiss on the cheek. It was always a good encouragement. "I'll be watching from a far." With that, Naruto leaped away preparing himself for the next step. A few moments later, Hinata and Sakura were chatting amongst themselves pretended nothing was going on. The enemy ninjas were drooling at them, it wasn't often that they saw two pretty girls alone in the forest.  
  
"There are only two of them," said the first male Mist-nin.   
  
"Yeah," said the second. "I can't believe we scored such chicks… we are so lucky!"  
  
"Quiet down, idiot!" snapped the third member. "We don't want those two to hear us."  
  
"They must be rookies, they think that it's safe hanging out here like that… they can be so foolish."  
  
"Where's the third person?" asked the first.  
  
"Do you remember how the last guy looked like?" asked the second.  
  
"Don't know guys," answered the third teammate. "If it's only the two of them, we should take them down already." With that, the three readied themselves on a combination attack. As soon as they dived down, Sakura and Hinata broke their little act and prepared themselves to fight. After activating the Byakugan, Hinata assaulted two of the Mist-nins while Sakura took on the last one.  
  
"Which one of you has the scroll?" demanded the first mist-nin harshly while giving Hinata a kick.  
  
"As if I will tell you!" shouted Hinata as she evaded his kick while blocking another incoming punch.  
  
"If you tell us, little girl," said the second licking his lips as if he wanted Hinata. "We'll let you and your friend go." Hinata's eyes narrowed in anger and gave a smirk.  
  
"You wish…" she replied darkly while she gathered chakra into her palm. "Fan of Knives!" she shouted as she whirled herself throwing both of them off into the air with chakra blades striking them painfully. Even though they tried to guard, they couldn't defend themselves from the piercing effect.  
  
"This bitch is pretty tough!" shouted the second-nin as he drew out his kunai from his holster with much pain. However, the heiress' attacks didn't end there. She charged with her palm in an attacking position watching the precise point that she should strike. The first shinobi intercepted her between attacks by giving her another kick. Hinata simply Blinked forward completely avoiding him and headed straight for the second guy. He panicked immediately and tossed his kunai hoping to hit the Hyuga girl. With a tilt of her head, the kunai simply whizzed by her head avoiding it completely and forced her palm into his stomach. It struck directly in the chakra organ, Hinata knew that attack did hurt a lot. To ensure that he would pay for calling her a bitch, she dug her palm deeper into his flesh. That was an immediate kill, blood spewed from his mouth and it came down like a river. The first nin then charged at Hinata with absolute rage, he was too blind with anger. Without even turning around to do any seals, she unleashed the Mana Burn at the chakra organ once again destroying every speck of chakra in her target. With absolutely no chakra in their system, the other Mist-nin fell dead to the ground.  
  
Meanwhile, Sakura immediately Wind Walked to evade an incoming attack, with her dramatically increased speed, she did it no problem  
  
"Where the hell did she go?" asked the only surviving Mist-nin. "I can't see her anywhere!" Sakura smirked widely, she knew she had won this match already. She prepared her fist when she was right in front of him, her opponent was clueless of the jeopardy of her attack.  
  
"Critical Strike Punch!" exclaimed Sakura as she punched the enemy ninja extremely hard at the jaw making it break. (AN: This isn't much of a new technique, she calls it that since her passive ability gave her major additional strength.) Not only that his jaw broke, he was sent flying backwards crashing into old trees causing them to break into pieces. With another Wind Walk, Sakura immediately ran towards his direction to catch up. She quickly passed him and from behind she raised her leg in a kicking position and launched it up to his spine breaking it. The Mist-nin was killed instantly as his body arched on Sakura's foot. She extracted her leg back leaving the dead shinobi on the ground to rot. She quickly searched him thoroughly and found something that was the earth scroll. She grinned a happy grin and then confiscated all the weapons he had on him. It would be useful after all in the long run. "Hinata-san, I got the scroll!" Hearing her teammates voice, Hinata ran to her with a smile.  
  
"Good, I took everything I needed from the other two," said Hinata brushing off some dirt on her tanktop.  
  
"Are you hurt?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. We should look for Naruto-kun shouldn't we?"  
  
"Ni-chan should be here ever since we were done with these guys, I can't imagine that it would take him this long. I don't even sense his presence nearby."  
  
"That is strange…" agreed the heiress as she observed the area. "Naruto-kun should never have taken this long… do you think we should look for him though?"  
  
"Got any brighter ideas?" retorted Sakura jokingly. Hinata snorted in amusement and leaped to the higher grounds. Sakura grinned and followed her lead.  
  
"Hey Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan!" called a familiar voice stopping them.  
  
"Naruto-ni-chan, where were you?" asked Sakura turning around and putting her hands on her waist.  
  
"I had to do some private stuff, Sakura-chan!" he said with a happy smile. "I'm sorry if I didn't come back earlier, sorry to worry you."  
  
"It's not like you to be that unorganized though."  
  
"People make mistakes too, I'll try better next time." However, Hinata immediately smirked and punched Naruto hardly on the face sending him crashing to a tree. "Hinata-chan, what was that for?"  
  
"Hinata-san, just because ni-chan came back a bit later doesn't mean that you should abuse him like that!" shouted Sakura. "What the heck got on you anyway?"  
  
"You don't know him well enough then, Sakura-san," snapped Hinata in her taijutsu stance. "It's true that Naruto-kun does make mistakes but there was no way Naruto-kun would bounce back that far if I attacked him like that. To be more precise, he should be able to dodge my attack. He's way too weak to be Naruto-kun!"  
  
"What are you saying, I'm Naruto!" he shouted.  
  
"Think twice before telling me, you liar!" growled the Hyuga heiress. "If you're Naruto-kun, why is your kunai holster on your left thigh when he's right handed?" Naruto's eye twitched in anger. Something began to click in the pink hair girl's mind as well.  
  
"Hinata-san's right!" shouted Sakura taking out her kunai. "You don't even act like him, Naruto-ni-chan would never give such a cheerful smile on such a small matter. You're a terrible transformer and not to mention you have no talent in copying other's personality traits. You can't fool us for much longer, you might as well reveal yourself to us!" A dark smirk came on the boy's lips.  
  
"So you figured it out," he said sinisterly. The very next second a poof of smoke appeared transforming Naruto into a Rain-nin. "How unlucky of me, well it doesn't matter now, which one of you has the scroll?"  
  
"As if we're just going to give it to you."  
  
"No matter, I don't care if you're girls! I'll take it away from you two one way or another." He then took out his kunai and charged right at the duo. Hinata and Sakura both grinned darkly knowing this would be very entertaining for them. They already killed one squad, killing one more person wouldn't make much of a difference. The duo dashed too bracing themselves for another fierce fight.   
  
===================  
  
Meanwhile, Naruto unintentionally forgot about his team. In fact, he was glad that he left them behind. Right now, he was encountering a Grass team, a suspicious Grass team to be more precise. He found them heading towards Sasuke's team's direction. Normally, the Death Knight wouldn't care but one person on that team caught that team was too strange. He had to check it out, or intercept them before they reached Sasuke, Kiba and Shino. The last thing Naruto needed was to see their friends being slaughtered by a mystery person. He knew Team 8 wouldn't be able to take on this guy, they would be killed for sure. Of course, he decided to stop them before they reached their target, there was no way that Naruto would discard something that important.  
  
Naruto ran with his blade in an attacking position, he knew he was closing in very well without him noticing. With a few slashes, the first nin fell dead to the floor, the other two didn't notice his presence but Naruto knew the leader did.  
  
"What the hell just…" said the second Grass-nin but was interrupted as the Death Knight's runeblade came out of his chest. Naruto already went behind him and attacked cleanly. Blood flowed out from his wound like a waterfall, the dark shinobi knew this one shot was critical, it was only a short amount of time before his victim died. Naruto eyed the leader with cold eyes underneath his blindfold, he was the person with the incredibly high amount of chakra within. It was his chakra signature that made Naruto even more suspicious. The leader Grass-nin eyed Naruto with a neutral yet amused look. He showed no feeling of fear. What made the Death Knight's rage towards him increase was the fact the Grass-nin showed no feelings to his comrades' death. He simply smirked evilly at the sight. _'Who is this guy?'_ asked Naruto in his mind angrily.   
  
"You look like you have something to say to me," said Naruto as he extracted his blade from the now dead Grass shinobi. Both bodies are now lifelessly lying on the ground. "Don't tell me you're just going to have that stupid look on your face the entire time."  
  
"I have to say you amuse me, little boy," said the leader.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"You came and approached me alone, do you think that a more experienced genin such as myself would lose to you? You may have killed my team, I will make sure you die for that."  
  
"You're no genin," snapped Naruto. "And your reaction seemed way too calm when I ended their life, this is no team to you, I know that."  
  
"You seem to be sharp," mocked the leader Grass-nin.  
  
"If you're no genin and this isn't your team, what the hell are you doing here anyway? What is your purpose? You were heading for Sasuke's team, what were you planning to do?"  
  
"It's not anything within your concern, little boy."  
  
"It becomes my business if you're trying something funny to my friends," said Naruto coldly. "I'll ask you again nicely, what the hell were you trying to do?"  
  
"Just to give somebody a good present," answered the leader. "It's nothing special."  
  
"I'll ignore your sarcasm, I bet it's nothing that great."  
  
"I'm not lying to you, it is one of the greatest things you would want. Since you're good enough to kill my subordinates, you are worthy enough to have one too, Naruto-kun." The Death Knight's eyes shot open widely, what in the heck was going on here? How did this stranger know his name to begin with?  
  
"Who the hell are you anyway?" questioned Naruto. "How do you know my name?"  
  
"It wouldn't make much of a difference if I told you would it?" questioned the Grass-nin with an evil snicker. What made the Death Knight feel even more uncomfortable had to be his snake like tongue licking his lips in a hungry expression. It was disgusting, it was sickening to the core. "Now we have to battle this out with our lives on the line. I'm getting so excited just thinking about it…" Naruto narrowed his eyes and held his blade tighter preparing for the worst. His eyes didn't lie to him, he knew this would be one of the most dangerous battles he would face, his alertness increased, he knew he might need to use everything he had within him. This was definitely not the time to hold anything back. One thing was on the Death Knight's mind. _'You're going down!'  
_

AN: Yes, a cliffhanger for you all to have a hungry time wanting to know what would happen next chapter! I suppose it's pretty self-explanatory at this point. Nonetheless, I hope you all like it very much. This would definitely be my last chapter that would come out this quick. On Tuesday, I would be doing some major preparations for the entire week for the real deal. If you don't see a new chapter in the next 3-4 days, you know that I would be really busy and possibly no time to finish off things. I'll try to on the weekends that's unless I'm not too life drained. I'll try my best so don't worry. I'm glad there were new people reviewing my work last chapter, it was a good sign. PLEASE TELL ME how you guys liked this chapter, I would really be grateful if you shared your opinions if they aren't insults. To complete this task fully, please press the purple button on the bottom left side of the screen and give me a comment on my progress so I could see if you guys really want me to continue. If you don't want to, that's fine as well. But remember your questions and opinions won't be heard and answered. If you don't speak up now, you're letting someone else speak for you. Later now, people!


	15. Deep Trouble

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT:**_

_Chapter 15: Deep Trouble_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto in any way. Warcraft 3, no way! If I did own them, screw Fan Fics! I would be rich! (Sighs sadly and sulks. Takes out a Desert Eagle and shoots a bystander who seems to be annoying me. Bullet goes through his head and blood gushes out dramatically) Oh, how much I love blood...

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scene Change are the words in the bolded italic brackets in case you want to know.

**AN:** _(Writes in a journal)_ **Dear journal, life has been hard... my job is starting real soon and my preparations for this chapter is taking too much time. Loyal supporters are getting impatient, I can feel their dangerous aura affecting me in some ways that I couldn't even imagine. They are hungry I tell you, hungry for my blood! Actually, they are just lusty for my story. After some warm and considerate feedback all of the people who bothered to review, I know I had to continue this story. This time around, I will thank the people who actually reviewed. I should've done that a long time ago, this time I feel like it would be a very good time to show some gratitude! Also, I have to specially thank Dream Walker for his endless support, he made my day so much better by his back up. He made this story so much more successful than it should be. Those who did say something encouraging won't be left out either!**

**_Reviewers' Period:_** (These are not in any favoritism order, they come in things that I could refer to. Basically, the more you said, the more important I believe your words were.)

**Crimson-Strike:** Thank you so much for your long and encouraging review. You really took my words into account did you? Wow, you really know how to make this soldier happy. Sir, I am in your services to make your story better and your requests will be heard for sure! I should consider more of a character development. No, I don't consider your words a flame, I couldn't since I take it that you just wanted your voice heard. For a respectable guy such as yourself who has my 100 support, the last thing I need is misunderstandings. Again, thank you so much for your spiritual support, it's good to see another man with such encouragement. Best of luck in your fic, you know you have my 100 percent!

**Dream Walker:** No words need to be said here, you are like my greatest fortress I could always lean back on when I fall. I'll be seeing you on MSN. YOU ARE THE BEST MAN!

**YoukoSesshomaru's True Love:** Whoa, you love me... I really don't know what to say... should I say I like you too? I know you're kidding and I hope to give you nice stories always. Thank you for your potion that would make less people hate me! I know that helped a lot in some magical way. Glad that you love my story, I'm sure that I would do so much better with your encouragement.

**Girl from Marilake :** Yeah, I so know who you are in person, your name really gave it away. You wouldn't want to hide your identity from me would ya, my good friend? Yeah you're right on one thing, my first chapter went through some or more likely drastic changes but hell, it was for the best. I hope you actually read the rest of the story. Glad that summer school is over, it's really a drag isn't it? I had calculus to deal with so I so know your pain very, very well. I hope to see you online soon, you should be jumping for joy for the day that freedom was given to you. If your mail box is too full, delete some things. I hope you aren't considering my mails as useless things though. LOL! Anyway, I'll find you some other time, enjoy your summer!

**jemmos: **Thank you for liking my story, it's good to see another man who actually appreciates me for what I'm doing. Metamorphosis, if you suggested that, I should listen to it. It's really about time to show the boy's true colours, ne? Hope you like this!

**joecool:** I have to give you a friendly pat on the back for your constant encouragement. It's really good to see someone so loyal. You love Opposing Force the game (NOT ME of course!) don't you, I had to love your drill instructor line. I was laughing since it was just brilliant. I hope that my story made your day each time a new chapter comes out. I really have to thank you!

**Otakuus:** Yo, thank you so much for submitting your review. I am so glad that you go on just to find my chapter, in my mind I am like YATTE, another supporter for my story! You're right on one thing, I am getting kind of busy with reality, but I'll hang tough and continue this. Thanks again, I hope you love this chapter!

**One Azn Dragon:** Wow, you didn't have much to say this time around, I thought you liked action. Passionate cheek kissing... how does that work you ask? Let me think, probably a long kiss on the cheek with much emotion behind it. I am so not a love expert, can't say too much on that department. You'll see a good battle soon, I guarantee it.

**Place-your-name-here:** Tight pants and shirt not disturbing for you? Wow, if I had a girlfriend that seduced me like that... man, I won't be responsible for my actions. LOL! I can picture it now... ANYWAY (Shakes out all naughty thoughts), thank you for being such a consistent loyal reader, I thank you for your time and honest opinions. I will continue to update as quick as I can. THANKS!

**mystikd109:** YOUR STORY ROCKS! I still need to review your newest piece of great work! Sir, I will apologize for my slow actions. Thanks for not thinking that I am a pervert, you're such an understanding person, I don't see too much of those these days. If you need help on the romance thing in your story (more of the making out thing and intimacy, not sex... I can't do too much of that... too much for this soldier), feel free to ask me, I'll give you response for certain. THANK YOU for enjoying my story, I'll make sure I'll do the same. Let's support each other okay? I'm glad to do that. Hope you like this chapter!

**DaveBoo1378:** Thank you for your continuous efforts in supporting me! You have been a very loyal reader, I'm glad I made something that's worth your time in reading. You can find me on MSN, there's no need for me to say any more. Enjoy this chapter man!

**Gopu:** Thanks for liking it!

You asked a fairly okay question for me to answer, if you didn't sound so curious, I wouldn't have considered answering it. Sakura killed someone, so what? Naruto's dark and merciless personality has rubbed off on her and if you paid close attention to the previous chapters, the trio don't show much emotion whenever something like threat happen. I like to make them merciless in battles, if you're not satisfied with my answer, don't expect me to continue explain further. Glad that you love my story, I'm happy for that. Hiope I make a less confusing characteristic later on. And please, give me a name instead of ......., it looks like you're hiding from me.

**Night-Owl123:** Hey, I'm happy that my story caught your attention, I'll be happy to continue this! Thank you for being a loyal reader!

**Tritanor14:** You think that was fabulous? THANKS! I personally thought that was okay. Hope you could express more of your opinions next time. I'm sure you have a lot of good things and questions you want to say!

**Daniel of Lorien:** I can't really define your review as a statement, a question, a suggestion, a rant or something else. I will just show my gratitude to your constant effort in reading my story!

**Wormkaizer:** You think I was in the army? Sorry my friend, I'm just your average dude with a crazy addition and fantasy. Soldiers are still cool nonetheless. You're another very loyal reader ever since my story came out. I so want to shake your hand in such gratefulness that you would be touched with proudness. Thank you so much for appreciating my story, you have my humble respect!

**Anonymous:** You're content with fast updates? Well here you go, a good update like I always promised. Thank you so much for being such a loyal reader, it makes me happy to see you satisfied because of something I did. Enjoy this chapter man!

**stoictimer:** Angst wise, love wise and action wise... wow, your words made my day. I am so relieved that I pleased another reader, I hope you continue to like my chapters and support me whenever you can. Your words do the job very well, and thank you for being so considerate, you're the first to tell me to get enough rest. I really needed it, you're a good guy!

**Sirus183:** You don't like cliffhangers, well I don't either! But these chapters would be those though since I like to keep the suspence for you all. If you have any suggestions, feel free to say so, I'm quite open to them. Thanks for reading my story, glad you liked it. Looking for an update, you got it!

**amono-user:** Good to see you giving me such good comments, I don't think you're too pushy or straight forward or too aggressive, don't worry about it, I thank you for giving me such suggestions. I have to apologize that not all your requests may be met since I had 90 of the chapter done when I found your review, it would be too hard for me to change the story so suddenly, as you know I am quite fast on this story. By the time this thing is on the net, I may have 1000 words on the next chapter already. So, the sooner you review, the better that your words would be heard. It does get heard nonetheless, I check daily. Thank you for being a loyal reader (Fan sounds too... improper to me), I would be glad to make the story meeting at least some of your requests.

**eibetsu:** You think they kicked ass just now, be prepared for more my good friend! I know you're anxious, this would be a good chapter for you for sure. Thanks for enjoying my story.

**OTHERS**: Others who have been reading this story and liked it and reviewed in the past, I thank you all once again for your support. I hope to see some of your words later on in the near future! Hope you like this chapter!

**Other ungrateful jackasses:** My words are simple. Don't like it, don't read it. The last thing I need are your FUCKING words that hold no meaning. You people should learn to simply FUCK off far away from human existence so others with good intentions won't be effected by your insulting words. I don't need it, they don't either.

**AN: That was a long list! Hope you all like this chapter! Now, I'm gonna take a good nap... if you need me... just read okay?**

Hinata and Sakura dashed at the enemy Rain-nin with high speed, right before they engaged each other in contact, both girls disappeared without warning. The Rain-nin stopped immediately and jerked his head left and right trying to know where his opponents were. At the corner of his eye, he could see some of the bark shift a very slight movement nearly unnoticeable, he was glad he saw it though. He quickly made a flip backwards and leaped high to the air knowing one of his enemies were close. Sakura cursed her luck, she must've been too impatient to get things over with. The Rain-nin smirked as his luck as he formed hand-seals for an attack. However, he totally forgot about the Hyuga heiress who was already above him slamming her palm into his back performing the gentle fist.

The masked Rain genin's eyes opened in fear as he felt someone disrupted his chakra flow, he made an immediate recoil attack but in his wounded state, he wasn't even able to make a decent counter. Hinata who was still in the air defended it with her left arm with relative ease. When the heiress prepared another quick attack, her male opponent quickly twist and turned in a fast pace to avoid it knowing the devastating results it could actually cause. However, it was then he tossed a several kunais down to Sakura who was now visible. The pink hair genin ducked down and flipped to evade every single attack. With a bit of generation of chakra to her foot, she released the kunai that she attracted to her foot upward to her enemy. The Rain-nin shifted his body as an immediate reaction allowing the incoming weapon to slide by without making a cut. Hinata used Blink to get herself into safe area while she allowed her teammate to deal with the rest.

Sakura continued to gather chakra into her feet with a kunai in hand, she then boosted herself from the ground to the air with an incredible speed. The Rain-nin couldn't believe at the agility his enemy was creating. Without any time to dodge, Sakura dug her kunai quickly into his bare flesh on his chest. Blood smeared over the weapon as a result and he couldn't help himself let out a painful grunt. As Sakura loosened her grip on the kunai deliberately, she got herself into a good position to send her opponent downward with a heavy kick at the back. Since he was now more damaged, he didn't have enough strength to show much retaliation but to take the kick directly. However, it didn't mean he wasn't prepared for it. He made contact with the floor not landing the most damaging way that Sakura and Hinata had thought. Realizing what kind of hopeless situation the male Rain-genin got himself into, he decided to make a break for it.

He ran as quickly as his body could handle at the moment, a retreat was a lot better than not to retreat knowing his situation wasn't in his favor. However, with his now wounded leg due to that fall and the pain internally, he couldn't run too well at all. He had his head down with his right hand holding his chest area painfully, it was obvious that his movement was seriously dulled. Hinata wouldn't let him run away, not if he was in the position of giving her such a clear shot. With her Byakugan activated, this attack would be lethal. With a several hand seals, she put her hand in front of her and unleashed the Mana Burn at her victim. The green negative energy chased after the wounded genin. It hit him directly causing every speck of chakra within his body to burn and wasted. The damage was so great and superficial, life was drained from the boy completely. With no chakra to sustain the body, the girls knew he was finished. As the Rain-nin fell dead to the ground, the girls knew he was dead. 4 down, 2 teams less to deal with.

"Hinata-san," called Sakura as she walked to her partner. "You need to check where Naruto-ni-chan is? If that guy transformed into him earlier... he must've figured out Naruto-ni-chan wasn't nearby."

"I'm on it, Sakura-san..." replied Hinata as she focused her Byakugan to the widest radius possible which was around 4 km. She scanned thoroughly around the forest, behind the trees, in the sky even. In the end, nothing but a frown reached her lips, it was clear to Sakura that she found no signs of the boy they wanted to seek. "Naruto-kun isn't within my sight range..."

"He isn't?" questioned the pink hair genin in somewhat of a disbelief. "That means he must be quite far off... where could he have gone to? Could he have been kidnapped or ambushed?"

"I don't think so..." said Hinata thinking of any other logical possibilities. Naruto was too skilled to be ambushed by most of these fools in this exam, no one was good enough to even touch him. The conclusion the Hyuga heiress could assume to be correct was that he was scouting around. She was somewhat worried that he left without a word but she had a bad feeling about this. Something in her mind kept ringing, she couldn't get hold of what it was. "Let's look for Naruto-kun, okay?"

"Sure." When their conversation was done, Hinata and Sakura leaped to the higher grounds hoping to find their fearless leader soon. As the duo jumped from branch to branch in a skilled way that all shinobis must learn to do, an elusive thought kept appearing in Hinata's mind. She really had trouble not thinking something was going to start and it struck her so violently that it was obvious that it wouldn't be anything close to friendly. Sakura grimaced at her own thoughts, she knew it was very unlike her older brother to be this reckless. A better word to describe it would be unreliable. It was rare for him to make these kind of mistakes that worried her, she knew something was clearly up. The only thing they could do was to find him soon.

**_(Meanwhile with Naruto and the mystery Grass-nin) _**

"Fighting this fight with our lives?" questioned Naruto coldly meanwhile still glaring at his enemy closely. At this type of situation, it was foolish not to be on full alert. "Figures you would say something that crazy."

"This would make this fight so much more interesting, wouldn't it?" said the Grass-nin returning a question. "I'm sure you'll love what I have to give you, Naruto-kun. I'm getting so excited just thinking about it."

"In your dreams, little human," growled Naruto as he held on to his runeblade into an attacking position. "There's no way I'll allow you to hurt Sasuke!"

"I don't think you can do a thing about that..." cackled the leader licking his dry lips with a snake like attitude. "Just like how you can't do anything about what I'm going to do to you."

"As long as this body breathes, I'll do anything to stop you!"

"You're overrating yourself, you should surrender yourself to me now while you can."

"In your dreams, little human..." It was then the Death Knight had enough talking, it was time to take action. He immediately charged forward with his blade in a striking position and prepared for the absolute worst that this fight could take him. Once the boy was close which took less than a second, he twisted himself to deliver a kick. The Grass-nin simply blocked it without wincing or showing any signs of pain. Naruto knew his opponent was strong, he quickly resolved to more combo potential attacks such as moves that included his blade doing some activity. The Death Knight then slashed his opponent, to his surprise the Grass-nin moved back in a flash that caused Naruto to miss. To counter, he gave Naruto several volleys of punches trying to mess up his co-ordination. The Death Knight wasn't one to be that easily distracted, as he shifted his head and maneuver around at that spot, he never broke any sort of eye contact and focus. He simply couldn't at this stage.

It wasn't long before the enemy Grass-genin took out a sword from his mouth, by the looks of it, it seemed like he was trying to take something he swallowed down his throat long ago. It was not only disgusting, it was horrifying. The Death Knight had no time to feel disgusted, no matter how awful it looked, that was still a weapon that could easily cause damage. The enemy quickly gave a downward slash with force, the boy defended himself quickly by using his blade as a shield. With relevant ease, the silver hair genin countered by pushing his opponent slightly. Seizing this opportunity, Naruto decided to attack as swiftly as possible performing a quick horizontal pursuit. However, right before the blade made any kind of contact, the Grass-nin slithered away and used his unbelievable snake like fashion to kick the Death Knight in the chest. Taking two steps backwards, Naruto regained his composure and prepared for the offensive.

"Death Coil!" he exclaimed as he fired a green coil of death from Nightshadow. Suddenly, a legion of snakes appeared in the middle of nowhere and intercepted his attack completely. Naruto gritted his teeth in anger while his opponent gave him a hungry smirk. As soon as the Death Coil vaporized, the remaining snakes went straight for the kill.

'_Damn it...' _thought Naruto angrily. _'I hate snakes...' _The boy studied the snakes' movements well before they got too close. Knowing how they moved, Naruto rolled and flipped to avoid each bite. As some seemed to be too close, the Death Knight would simply kill them with a slash at their heads. At the corner of his eye, he could see each dying snake would disappear in a smoke, he quickly came to the conclusion that these had to be summoned snakes. 'If these are summoned...' he thought as he leaped high into the air with these wretched reptiles hot on his pursuit. 'Mana Flare would have to do!' He then formed seals with one hand and allowed a high amount of chakra surrounding him. He smirked widely knowing this would definitely do the job.

"Mana Flare!" shouted Naruto as powerful chakra beams were released from his highly defensive chakra shield. As the snakes continued to their attacks, they did nothing to the shield. At the next second, the chakra beams would blast all of them into clouds of smoke. The Death Knight then quickly noticed that the Grass-nin was slithering around avoiding all the Mana Flare attacks, he was, unfortunately for the boy, doing a very good job at it. With the Unholy Sight activated, Naruto could clearly see his enemy was moving at a speed quicker than sound. With a swift 180-degree turn which caused a trail of dust to appear at least 1 second after he was there, he charged with such speed that it actually damaged the Death Knight as the Grass-nin collided into him.

That was surely a hard hit, if it wasn't for the Mana Flare armour, Naruto could safely assume that his ribs wouldn't be so in tact right now. As Naruto continued to slide across the branch surface, his enemy didn't hesitate to continue his own attacks. With a several maneuvers around the surroundings, the leader Grass genin didn't hesitate to perform the same move twice since this time it would hurt a lot more without the protection of the Mana Flare. This time, the Death Knight was prepared. At the instant that the snake freak got close, Naruto Blinked a several meters away allowing his enemy to hit face first to the branch. The boy's eyes narrowed in irritation when he saw that collision did nearly nothing for that sinister smile on his face was still there. At the next second, his felt his left wrist grabbed by a frightening outstretched hand.

"I've got you!" said the Grass genin in a sickening voice. With an evil smirk, he dived downward to the lower grounds dragging the Death Knight with him. It was obvious that he was attempting a high impact toss. With a powerful grip, Naruto couldn't break himself out of it, not to mention they were accelerating with every passing second. The enemy then forcefully swung Naruto downwards with incredible strength hoping it would end things. However, the dark warrior suddenly Blinked back high into the air right behind the enemy. Before the snake freak even realized what was actually happening, the Death Knight already attached himself onto him in a dead lock.

"Who's got who now?" questioned Naruto darkly as he headed to the ground with his opponent's head the first thing that would make the date to the solid floor. Knowing his opponent would attempt something funny, Naruto wouldn't let go until he made sure the Grass-nin was crushed. The snake freak kept shaking his head in mercy during the process but within a matter of seconds, a heavy impact was made causing the earth to affect others nearby. Hinata and Sakura gasped as the earth shook for a second, they weren't sure what just happened but that didn't stop them from continuing to search for their leader of their squad. Naruto then released his victim and leaped a several good meters of distance as he charged his blade with green energies preparing to end that son of a bitch's life. He didn't want to that freak to live one second longer in this world.

"Hidden Snake Hands!" shouted the Grass-nin weakly but firmly as a legion of snakes came out of his sleeve and wrapping around the Death Knight's right arm halting his attack. Naruto couldn't believe that his opponent was still conscious after that heavy impact crash, it was incredibly unbelievable. Even the dark shinobi himself would have a concussion after that. The snake's have encircled themselves tightly around his arm in a lock, Naruto could only retaliate but not to much effort.

"What do I need to do to make you stay down?" yelled Naruto as the grip became more fierce. The Grass-nin then recovered from his upside down position attempting to reel the Death Knight in. Knowing Naruto wouldn't simply give in, he knew he had to take more of a drastic measure. The snake imitator yanked Naruto towards him with tremendous power. With a gasp, the boy was then send slamming his back to a tree with a severe blow. Naruto glared at his opponent sharply as his enemy continued to attack. The silver hair boy then boosted himself off the tree with a push with his legs. With a turn, Naruto then unleashed a Death Coil attack right at the snake freak's face. Death itself soon consumed the Grass-nin as if it wanted his soul. He screamed in absolute terror and agony while breathing heavily after the effects were done. The major side effect would be his coughing out blood forcefully out of himself.

"You'll pay for hurting me..." cursed the Grass-nin with the most hideous look that Naruto had seen.

"Hidden Snake Hands?" questioned Naruto as he stood in his preferred swordsman style stance. "You seriously aren't who you are. I never recalled the Grass producing such hideous snake like freaks."

"Naruto-kun... you would be the perfect person for my gift. You really do have potential but you haven't used your full strength yet. C'mon, let me feel more, I want to see it!"

"You can't hide your true identity from me," barked Naruto. "I already know who you are, Orochimaru. There aren't that many people who could use Hidden Snake Hands in this world. Jiraiya-sensei told me a lot about you, he told me your intentions in living. I didn't want to see your ugly face anywhere!"

"So, you know..." said Orochimaru as he peeled off the fake skin he had on him. "I never thought Jiraiya would have enough brains to warn you about this." His face was irritated the Death Knight even more, by the looks of it, Naruto knew he must've killed the real Grass-nin to obtain that face. The ruthless bastard took people's lives as mere play things, this itself was already unforgivable. Naruto wouldn't stand for it. He glared at the sennin's real face, rage and anger simply built up as if it was natural. His white pale face and snake yellow eyes had to be the most sickening thing Naruto had seen.

"Orochimaru... I'm going to kill you..." threatened Naruto as he generated more energy within his blade.

"I'll be glad to see you try, demon boy..." Orochimaru returned the words coldly. Naruto had heard enough from that bastard, if he wanted his true colours that badly, he would simply give it to him not like Orochimaru could stand up to him at that level anyway. The Death Knight then held the blade right in front of him and chakra began to form in a manner of a deathly aura. Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the chakra giving him inner strength, it was powerful and filled with both hope and satisfaction. As he opened his eyes behind the blindfold, his body was already surrounded with the powerful Unholy Aura. With both his Unholy techniques activated, Naruto was a force to be reckoned with. The snake sennin knew little about this aura, all he could do was wait patiently until the Death Knight finally unleashed his true power.

**_(Time passes)_**

The aura around was intensifying each passing second, Naruto's eyes never left the snake sennin's the entire time. Even though Orochimaru couldn't see the genin's teal eyes because of the blindfold, he knew he was in eye contact piercing into his soul. Naruto then smirked as he felt his aura completed, it has been a long while since he had such an opportunity to do so much bloodshed, he couldn't wait until he was done. Without knowing, the boy licked his lips in a hungry matter, he was lusty for blood and determined to end his life. The Unholy Aura began to start the recovery effects, Naruto's injuries were healed in a matter of seconds. Orochimaru didn't like the sound of that, it was like as if Kyubi's chakra were fusing as one. However, the Death Knight would prove to him healing wasn't the only thing the aura could do, pummeling the sennin into a pulp would be a good enough proof.

He vanished immediately after dashing forwards preparing to attack, Orochimaru couldn't even detect where the boy went. At that instant, Naruto was already in a middle of giving the sennin a heavy kick to the head. Reacting immediately, Orochimaru held his arm to the head to block knowing he wasted time pondering earlier. However, with a slight maneuver, Naruto lowered his attack and gave his enemy a heavy kick at the side sending him gliding across the area. As the sennin crashed to a log, he gave a quick recovery in less than a second and began to engage the boy once again.

'_He seems to be a little bit faster than before...'_ thought Orochimaru while his fist was nearing to Naruto's face. The Death Knight leaned his head one way to allow the fist hit nothing but air, with that he seized his chance for another assault. Naruto immediately lowered himself to avoid any attacks that Orochimaru had planned, it was then where he kicked his chin from below with much force. Naruto then flipped back up to give a clean punch to the sennin's gut. As the fist made contact, Orochimaru couldn't help but vomit and stumble back a several steps holding his damaged area with pain.

"Damn you..." he cursed in most agony. Naruto smirked widely as he continued his attacks not allowing the sennin to make any recovery. Gathering chakra into his blade, the Death Knight stride to his enemy wanting to make contact, he knew this would hurt a lot if it did. Seeing the attack had visible chakra like the Chidori, Orochimaru got his act together and defended against the Death Pact with his own sword. Naruto's eyes narrowed as his attack was cancelled but the retaliation he was receiving wasn't something that was a threat. With a bit more strength slashing downwards, Naruto successfully lead the enemy's blade to the ground. To make sure the enemy would have no hold of any weapons, the Death Knight immediately kicked the tip of the sword sending it nailing to a branch above. Orochimaru gasped at the major setback but he had no time to worry about that when Naruto's assault continued.

"Chain Lightning!" shouted Naruto as he powerfully released a lightning bolt of energy at Orochimaru. The sennin quickly leaped out of the way but his attacks didn't end there at all, Orochimaru's nightmare had only begun. "Forked Lightning!" yelled the genin as another wave of lightning was unleashed from his blade. Once again, the Sound sennin jerked away barely avoiding the intense chakra wave but he could feel the heat above his skin, he knew if the attack hit him directly, the damage would be critical. "Death Coil!" This time when the third attack was released, Orochimaru couldn't build up enough thrust to move out of the way, he simply took the coil of death completely. By the flinching pain Naruto saw, he knew his attack was lethal, there was no mistaking it. The Death Coil had burned the sennin badly and possibly did some crucial effects. Getting hit by that attack twice was never a good sign for the victim, especially not in the face. As Naruto approached the sennin again with his blade in a striking position, Orochimaru quickly opened his eyes through the pain and winced in anger.

"Get away from me!" he screamed in fury as he punched the Death Knight in the face heavily. Naruto grunted with slight pain as his cheek made contact with a fist and immediately leaped high to the air to prepare himself. He knew making reckless moves would be his downfall, he simply couldn't afford that. It was a surprise when Orochimaru was on his tail like a predator. "I got you, boy!" He shouted with an evil maniac like expression. His face was burned and sweaty. Aside from that, Naruto could see his enemy's eyes were blood red due to the blood vessels became completely visible. The sennin slithered up the trees again at incredible agility to take back his sword. Once he did, it was then when he dived down aiming the weapon towards Naruto's heart. Naruto's eyes narrowed angrily for he underestimated the snake sennin's skill, he prepared himself for the worst.

Orochimaru wildly slashed the Death Knight like a maniac, he gasped in joy when he saw his weapon making contact against his victim's flesh, blood came from the wound, he finally felt superior to the Uzumaki survivor. No one made a fool out of him and especially not a kid like him. As the sennin forced his sword deeper into the Death Knight's flesh, the boy couldn't help but smirk.

"You are a fool to believe that you actually got me," stated the boy with a dark expression.

"What?" Suddenly, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "A Kage Bunshin? When did he do that?" He soon panicked once he sensed the real Naruto was above him in the air diving down with his runeblade gritting his teeth in pure hatred. The sennin's eyes widened in fear when he realized what kind of hopeless situation he was in.

"Death Coil Rendan!" shouted Naruto as a legion of Death Coils were fired from his blade like a meteor rain. Orochimaru was shot down to the ground taking every single attack, he was pummeled to the ground making a deeper and larger crater every second. Blood burst out from his body as each Death Coil continued to devour him, each blow became more crucial than the last. It was when then the dark shinobi came down with a final blow with his heel preparing to attack his stomach.

Unbelievably, the Sound sennin managed to summon enough strength within himself to roll away slightly making the genin's attack to be a complete miss. The splinters and leaves on the ground were shattered into dust by the stomping impact, Orochimaru could tell that was what was going to happen to his bones if he didn't move quickly enough. Naruto then kneeled and aimed his hand to his enemy, with a bit of chakra, he released the Mana Burn at his shoulder to make sure the sennin would stay down. The beam launched Orochimaru a several feet backwards and he fell hard on his back due to his weakened state. He leaned back up slowly as fast as he could which was very slow. Naruto looked pitifully at him, he still pointed his blade not letting his guard down. As the Sound sennin glanced up to the silver hair genin, he watched him with rage. Blood was coming out of his mouth and lips, he didn't even realize he was suffering from a nosebleed either.

"You better give up now, Orochimaru," spat Naruto darkly. "You know you aren't good enough to beat me."

"Why... why can't I keep up with you, you lousy demon punk!" shouted the snake freak angrily and grunting with pain. "There's no way a runt like you could defeat me! I'm Legendary!"

"Legendary can only go so far, you bastard. Jiraiya couldn't beat me, what makes you so sure that you could do the same? I'll destroy you!"

"You... there's no way you could be stronger than Jiraiya!"

"You are dealing with the apprentice of Uchiha Itachi, your fate was sealed the moment you wanted to challenge me."

"This can't be happening... no, this can't be true!"

"Believe what you want to believe," stated the Death Knight. "You're just being arrogant. No matter, I'll kill you just like how I killed many others in the past. There's no point in retaliating either. I damaged enough parts of your body to weaken them dramatically, I know you won't be able to even summon enough stamina to give a decent punch. Your strength is decreasing with every blow. You're no longer a young man, Orochimaru. Age must've gotten to you, it really dulled your performance." The Death Knight then smirked amusingly. Orochimaru gave him a questioning look. "I finally figured out why you are here, you aren't that good in hiding secrets you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're here for Sasuke's body, Jiraiya told me you have researched a lot of Forbidden Techniques to achieve eternal youth. There is no such thing as that since you have to continue killing other people to complete this task. You fateless coward! How dare you think of other people's lives into what you want them to become? What kind of right do you have to decide their outcome? I'm going to kill you!" Fluorescent green chakra once again formed on the runeblade, Orochimaru's eyes showed nothing but fear.

_'What am I going to do?' _thought the sennin sweating a little. _'I can't beat this demon... he's right... he busted too many of my body parts for me to make a quick retreat. This kid is definitely too strong... his heart is pumping him with demonic chakra and it continues to grow as the battle prolongs... he'll kill me if I keep going. In this case, I won't be able to find Sasuke... who would've thought a Death Knight still existed in this world. My body doesn't have the strength to continue for much longer... all his attacks have been devastating, especially his taijutsu and ninjutsu... Damn it, everything seems so hopeless!'_

"It certainly does," answered Naruto with amusement. Orochimaru's head jerked right up with a silent gasp. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you having a chat with yourself? I understand since this would be the very last time."

"Don't get too cocky, demon, this isn't over until it's over!" The Snake summoner quickly formed a set of seals and ended with some kind of advance signal. 'What the hell did he just do?' thought Naruto still paying close attention. 'Nothing is happening...' At that exact moment, he leaped high off the ground as a python dug out from the ground ready to take a piece out of him. The Death boy was surprised at the silence of the snake, as he was in the air a second snake suddenly came out and wrapped its tail to the boy's leg pulling him back down. He gasped and killed the wrapping snake quickly but the first snake seized the opportunity to plunge its fangs in Naruto's arm. The Death Knight yelled in pain as he forced the reptile to detach itself from him. As the fangs extracted, Naruto crushed the snake with full strength. He looked at Orochimaru who was chuckling evilly and soon broke into a sinister laugh. Naruto held his wounded arm breathing heavily in pain, he tried to move his body but it obviously didn't respond the way he wanted. He knew he was poisoned somehow.

"What did you do to me, you snake freak!" shouted Naruto angrily.

"A type of poison that dulls all human functions," explained Orochimaru. "It's ingenious isn't it? You were the first person to experience this as well, you should feel worthy to be the prey. It doesn't just slows you, eventually it would kill you since it slows down your heartbeat. Eventually you body would stop functioning completely making you die. However, your healing abilities are too high all thanks to that Kyubi demon, it will always be a nuisance... that beast alone may help you heal quickly enough to avoid the death stage... if that's the case, the poison would lose its effect soon after. I'll gladly help you die, Naruto." With another evil smirk, Orochimaru gathered the chakra that he still had within himself and guided his sword like a heat seeking missile. He released the sword straight at the Death Knight aiming at his neck, Naruto was powerless. If that sword struck his neck, it would be all over.

Using everything he could muster at the moment, he managed to shift his body slightly but not enough to evade the incoming weapon. The sword stabbed his chest and pierced through all his flesh in that spot and forcefully made its way back out on the other side. The immediate effect was the boy coughing out an horrifying amount of blood, the pain was unbearable, it was the most painful thing he experienced physically. He felt something disruptively ripping all his flesh apart, he knew at this point he had no strength within him. He was in absolute pain and growing weaker by the minute. Orochimaru panted heavily in exhaustion, despite how much he wanted to give the boy the curse seal, he could sense that he didn't have the chakra to do it. Even so, he feared that the Kyubi chakra may be able to gradually eliminate it. If it didn't, Naruto would become too powerful to control if the seal did activate. He quickly made a break for it not wanting to notify any other people around. If Naruto's teammates did arrive now, he wouldn't be able to deal with them in the state he was in. The wisest thing to do was to retreat. He glanced at the boy who was now deathly pale, he wanted to finish him off but decided to drop it and allowed him to die. The injury that the sword has made was very critical, even though Naruto wasn't dead now, Orochimaru could tell his chances of living would be zero if nobody came. He needed to rest now and disappeared by melding himself to the shadows.

**_(Moments later)_**

"Naruto-kun!" screamed Hinata as she found her beloved boyfriend nearly dead but somewhat conscious less than 2 minutes later. Sakura was in the stage of tears holding her brother's hand tightly with passion. Naruto couldn't blame the two if they were crying for him, he knew how much he was to them. Hinata broke into tears as soon as Naruto whispered something into her ear telling her not to cry for him. Sakura cried harder in sorrow but she knew she had to do something to help, crying wouldn't help. Attempting to push all thoughts of despair aside, they began to take off his clothes to examine the injury. Blood soaked both his jacket and vest, they knew they had to remove it. The two gasped in shock as they realized a hole was made through his chest, they shivered a little bit seeing such a sight. Hinata analyzed the wound quickly and not to mention his well built chest. When she wiped away the blood, she couldn't help herself from wondering how he got so badly wounded.

Sakura tried to stop the bleeding which luckily somehow slowed down gradually due to the boy's incredible healing but she found something strange. As she observed at her now bloody hand, she could tell his blood was somewhat more orange than theirs. It was mostly red with a shade of orange... sort of like a boiling demonic colour. As she checked the open wound, both Hinata and Sakura could see something faint but dark inside generating cells back together at quite an amazing pace. They didn't know what it was, if it was any more faint in colour, they wouldn't have noticed it at all. Hinata then quickly formed a set of seals and her hand then began to glow a yellow colour. As her hand touched his chest, the duo could see Naruto became more lively, just a little. Sakura could tell that was the Rejuvenation, Hinata always had talent in learning new techiniques.

"Hinata-san," whispered Sakura worriedly.

"What?" asked Hinata trying her best not to cry. Her voice was quite muffled.

"Do you find anything strange about ni-chan's healing?"

"No..." lied Hinata somewhat. "Why?"

"Did you ever wonder why he always seemed to heal so much more faster than anyone?"

"I think he's just very well trained to be hurt severely even at times when looked he did."

"But I saw something strange in his wound though..."

"What did you see..." asked the heiress trying to control her fear.

"I saw something faintly black regenerating his cells..." The sentence struck Hinata's mind immediately. She had questions about Naruto's healing as well but she didn't ask him directly. She wanted to find out nonetheless back then. Once she found out about the Kyubi inside Naruto, it somewhat answered her questions. However, the conversation she had with Rin and Haku two days ago was still quite fresh on her mind. It was the same day that Haku woke up from his one week coma, how could she forget.

_**(Flashback)**_

"Rin-san, Haku-san, I'm glad that you're back already," greeted the Hyuga girl as she was cooking something for herself. "Will you be staying here tonight?"

"Hinata-chan, we won't be..." answered Haku.

"Hokage-sama got us an apartment that we could stay in for now," added Rin. "Me and sempai are going to live together for the time being so you two lovebirds could be alone." Hinata blushed slightly.

"Since Naruto isn't here, Hinata-chan, would you please consider my offer to allow me to take you out on a date. I'm sure a gorgeous girl like you must have a lot..." He was rudely interrupted with a fist on his head. It was obvious that it was Rin who punched him.

"Stop hitting on ni-san's girlfriend!" shouted Rin angrily while shooting a death glare.

"Okay... okay... sorry..." apologized Haku half-heartedly since he did want to take Hinata to a date.

"You guys don't have to move out..." said Hinata shyly. "You could tell Naruto-kun first, I'm sure he doesn't mind you two staying with him."

"Believe me," said Rin smiling. "The only person he would want to stay here for a long time would be you, Hinata-san." The Hyuga girl smiled with a shade of fuchsia.

"You seem to understand Naruto-kun a lot," Rin nodded while Haku silently agreed. "Does he have anything that you don't know?"

"Well," admitted Rin. "The only things that I may not know would be the things he has been doing these days. I know everything else, he couldn't hide anything from me."

"Do you know anything like his deepest secrets?" asked Hinata hopefully.

"Yeah, but they are things that even I couldn't say..." admitted Rin sadly. Her mood suddenly changed remembering the incident that happened a several hours ago. She hated people who thought of her brother as a demon when he was the ideal person that everyone wanted to be.

"Rin-san," said Hinata holding her hand. "I do know he's the Kyubi carrier."

"How do you feel?" asked Haku also knowing that fact obviously. "Are you afraid of him?"

"No, why would I be? Naruto-kun isn't a demon in my eyes, I love him for who he is. I will never leave him, he deserves so much more than this."

"I know..." said Haku looking down. "But there is..."

"We can't tell her that!" said Rin tapping his shoulder slightly.

"Tell me what?" asked Hinata urging on. "Is there something more that I need to know?"

"Rin, we have to tell her," Haku continued making his point. "It's a lot better for her if she knows now rather than her witnessing it for herself not knowing what to do."

"You have a point..." admitted Rin sighing. "If I know ni-san... he wouldn't tell a single soul about this until they see it themselves. Hinata-san... are you sure you want to know what this is?"

"I'm willing to accept everything about Naruto-kun, I'll never look at him differently!" exclaimed the heiress begging for Rin to answer. Haku and Rin took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Hinata-chan," began Haku. "Did that boy tell you about his heritage and what a Death Knight really was?" Hinata nodded promptly. "Did he tell you where he achieved all his techniques from?" Again, the response she gave was a nod. "Did he tell you that he's a half demon?" That resulted in another nod. "Did he tell you he has a move to turn himself into a very dangerous and powerful half demon?" This time Hinata shook her head in confusion.

"I've never seen him use it..." answered Hinata honestly.

"You shouldn't," said Rin cutting her off. "It's not anything that you want to see. His Metamorphosis technique sadly enough is the key element of who he is..."

"Metamorphosis?"

"The name is what the effect does. It changes him into a powerful demon with large pitch black wings... not only that... his strength and chakra also becomes tremendous..."

"That doesn't seem so bad..."

"There are major side effects to that move!" shouted Haku fearing that transformed demon already. "There are ways that technique could be used."

"One," explained Rin. "If he wishes to use it which is never. Two, if he's in a critical death stage, the dark energies within himself would heal the wounds that may possibly take his life. You could say that could be immortality but since the wounds and injuries heal him in such a high speed that his body wouldn't be able to handle... his must use another form to sustain it, it's mandatory. He would transform into a winged half demon warrior with not only with incredible healing, he also has very quick chakra regeneration and finally has very high physical strength and movement."

"What's the down side to this?" asked Hinata a little worried.

"He'll lose himself in that form..." answered Haku avoiding eye contact deliberately. "The dark energies within himself would try to take over his mind at that time... basically Naruto would be battling with himself in his mind trying his best to be in control. However, the darkness is very persuasive and tempting... I don't know how since I never experienced it. He would attack allies and friends alike..."

"We saw him used it once before... I know ni-san has already used the Metamorphosis more than twice... each time he uses it, his blood corrupts more and more to a real demon's. His chakra becomes more and more green, showing that he's turning more to the demon's side. I know his thinking never changes, he would still be Naruto-ni-san nonetheless but you'll soon see what I mean. The best example would be his lust..."

"Lust for what?" questioned Hinata very quietly.

"Vengeance and other's lives... after Naruto-ni-san has transformed... he became a lot more merciless, he would kill enemies without a second thought, he could stick his runeblade through a pregnant mother without a single tear coming out of his eye if that mother was the person he needed to kill. I don't know what's worse, the fact that he became a demonic killing machine or the fact that he became merciless and heartless..."

"How do I know that he may be activating his Metamorphosis?"

"He wouldn't use that technique if he doesn't have to but the first signs would be his dark energies recovering him in a quick pace. That would be the good first sign that he's trying to struggle not to let the darkness prevail. If you could do something about it, heal him as much as you can so the darkness wouldn't play that role for too long. The longer you take to stop it, the higher the chance he may become dangerous."

"You don't fear Naruto-kun because of that?"

"No," answered Haku. "We wouldn't fear him because of it, he saved our lives with that enough times for us to abandon him or even afraid of him."

"Regardless, Hinata-san," said Rin carefully. "That's not something that you want to see. The change is horrifying, I mean it. If you can, do anything to prevent it unless he says so himself, okay?" Hinata nodded in agreement and while escorting Haku and Rin out the door. She delayed them, she apologized quickly and wish them the best. After closing the door, she was left alone to herself thinking of what Rin and Haku just explained carefully. Hinata agreed with them, Naruto would never tell her this knowing it may hurt her in one way or another. She didn't blame him this time for hiding it, if she had that kind of power herself, it wasn't something you want the neighbourhood to know. She sighed quietly and waited for her boyfriend to return home.

**_(End Flashback)_**

The Hyuga heiress shook a little remembering the Metamorphosis first signs, what Sakura had just said completely matched Rin's words. She now even worried when she heard the word Metamorphosis, she couldn't allow him to transform here or now, this wasn't the time. She quickly used the Rejuvenation again and luckily this time it showed more effect. His wounds were too deep, the healing process had been completely slowed down.

"Hinata-san, are you listening to me?" asked Sakura shaking her best friend. "Isn't the black thing strange?" Hinata shook her head noticing that she had dozed off unknowingly. She quickly gave her friend a grin.

"Don't worry... Sakura-san..." she replied with the best smile she could muster. "I'm sure if it heals Naruto-kun... it should be okay..." To Sakura, it seemed that Hinata wanted to avoid the subject. She knew her friend too well, she was hiding something but the pink hair girl no longer was the person to just pry it out of others. If Hinata wanted to share, she would simply tell her. Sakura knew she would know eventually. Hinata wanted to avoid this, she didn't want to think about the Metamorphosis, she didn't want to see her Naruto-kun as an engine of destruction, she wanted him to be him. The only thing the Hyuga girl could do was heal him to an extent that the feared transformation could be avoided. She took out her homemade medicine from her pouch and applied on any wounds that may need it. The snake bite was the most visible one, as she applied the medicine on it, she was surprised that it healed immediately.

"Wow," said Sakura in surprise. "You medicine works really well, Hinata-san!"

"Yeah..." Hinata gave a weak reply. She knew better, a lot better not to lie but she had no choice. In truth, her medicine never ever showed its effect that quickly. She used it on herself, Hanabi, Neji, her father, Kiba, Shino and Sasuke who all sparred with her in the past. All of them said that she had talent in the medical field, it was one of the only praises that Hinata received from her father. She was proud of herself for that but the situation here brought her attention once again. She examined the bite a while ago, it was another deep one. There was no possible way that it would disappear after a small touch of medicine. She knew the Metamorphosis was slowly taking its effect, she didn't have the time. "Sakura-san, let's take Naruto-kun somewhere safe, we can't allow him to stay here." Sakura agreed with a slight nod, she two then held him in a supportive state and left the vicinity as quickly as their bodies could take them.

**_(Currently in the central tower of the forest)_**

"You're too alert Sasuke," said Kiba patting Akamaru who was hiding in his jacket. At this time they were already in the tower safely. "Akamaru no longer sensed that enormous chakra that was tailing behind us for a long time already."

"You still should not let your guard down regardless of how safe it may seem knowing someone is after you..." answered Sasuke. "I don't know who it was after us but Akakmaru's reaction sure told me enough."

"I never thought that we nearly have encountered 2 shinobis with amazing chakra..." said Shino suddenly.

"I thought that Sand guy was already bad enough..." said Kiba.

"Who would've thought there was another one like that in the exam..." added Sasuke looking around not taking one second to be not cautious. "But what happened to the shinobi team that was on our tail? Kiba, do you know?"

"Akamaru sensed it was someone familiar... he just knew it wasn't someone peculiar... by the time we reached here, the other signature was equally or greater... I can't imagine who it was that would delay us enough time to make it safely here..." 'Who would help us?' thought Sasuke. 'Must've been Naruto... damn... I can't do a thing to help him right now... why is it me that's always being saved?'

"Sasuke," called Shino. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." answered the Uchiha irritated but not at his team. "I'll have a talk with that mysterious saviour a little later. Right now, we shouldn't worry about it too much since we already passed this test."

"You should be the one that should worry less." Sasuke simply snorted and gave a nod. He had been too tense for a while, it made his friends worry. Kiba and Shino both smiled back with Shino merely nodding. It was best for them to worry later knowing the Sand team made it here even earlier than they did. _'Naruto, Sakura and Hinata-san...'_ thought the Uchiha survivor as he rested on his bed. _'You three better be okay...'_

**_(Somewhere in the Forest of Death) _**

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was hiding in the woods trying his best to recover from his injuries. He indeed was pissed at the fact that he lost to the demon kid but at the same time he was glad that he managed to escape. Naruto's abilities were definitely beyond his knowledge but he was the 4th's son after all, it was only natural for him to have such potential. However, who would've known that he could have such skill that exceeded the Legendary 3 at his age. It made no difference right now, Orochimaru knew that boy was severely wounded right now, if he fought the girls now, he would be killed for certain, the best would be to send the 3 Sound-nins that were taking this exam. He must destroy Uzumaki Naruto before he got more disruptive.

"We figured you would be here, Orochimaru-sama," called a voice from behind. The snake sennin turned his head around slightly just to find his 3 Sound-nin subordinates, Dosu, Zaku and Kin.

"What do you want?" barked Orochimaru rudely.

"Is that the way to treat your men?" asked Zaku amusedly.

"You should really control your temper," added Kin. "What happened to you, master, you seemed beat."

"Thanks for stating the obvious..." said the sennin lazily. "How did you know I was here?"

"It's just like you to stay in places like this not to be seen," answered Dosu. "I would do the same."

"So you three could read me like a book, big deal. I need your progress report."

"We have spent the entire day looking for Uchiha Sasuke's team, so far we haven't located him."

"So we have spent about the day looking for a good spot for shelter," added Kin.

"I see..." said Orochimaru. "Have you picked off any other teams so far to ensure your chance of passing the exam?"

"Not yet," answered Zaku.

"You all have to get the second scroll, Sasuke's team is already in the tower. They made it around several hours ago."

"They made it inside already? But the exam only lasted for 6 hours or so!"

"Believe it, Zaku. However, there is another task I need you three to complete."

"What could that be?" asked Kin curiously. "Is there a change of plans?"

"There is but the main objective still remains. I want you to kill Uzumaki Naruto before this exam is over. He's that silver hair boy with the sword, I know you'll recognize him. He's severely hurt right now, I'm sure you three could take out his two female teammates if they are defending him. You guys could deal with Sasuke later... once a team enters the tower, it'll be hard to hunt them down if you are trying to infiltrate in. There are too many chunnins, jounins and Anbus inside, even I couldn't go inside and kill Sasuke unnoticed. Anyway, just kill Uzumaki Naruto and then proceed with your original task." The three nodded and leaped out in a flash.

**_(Elsewhere in the woods)_**

Somewhere in the dark areas of where Team 7 was hiding, Hinata and Sakura were worried for their beloved male teammate. Hinata kissed him on the cheek hoping he would know she would always be there for him. Sakura tried hard not to cry for her brother, but she couldn't help but shed a few tears. Hinata then held his hand tightly allowing him to feel her warmth, she wanted to do anything to make her Naruto-kun feel better. The last thing she wanted was to see Naruto as something that even Rin and Haku feared. She wouldn't allow it to happen. Unknowingly, she began to cry out loud. Sakura put her hand on her best friend's shoulder hoping that would lighten up the mood. However, it was then when Sakura began to weep as well. As the two continued to mourn for their him, they didn't notice the change in his eyes beneath the blindfold. It slightly opened to reveal a pair of now bloody crimson eyes. Suddenly, a dark and cold aura began to envelop him. His eyes then winced in anger, his flashing pupils

no longer showed his usual kindness. Now, it was filled with lust of death. Anyone would do, he felt the need to kill. His Metamorphosis was taking its deadly effect...

**AN: Yawn... I'm awake, I'm awake! What... you guys are still here?** _'Have these people watched me sleep for all this time?'_ **Man, I have to kill these intruders... **_'Wait, did I think that or say that...' _**I've gotta think of a line fast! Uh...where are my sleeping pills... give them to me! **(Takes a bottle of pills and chugs them down quickly and collapses face first to the ground)

(Several **LONG** hours later...)

**Another long chapter done, I still have to thank my loyal readers who have been supporting me all this time! There were jackasses but I would ignore them this time again. Work has been getting onto me quite a lot, it has been hard to write more chapters with the pressure I am having. Not much needs to be said, I feel quite exhausted right now, I just hope all of you have a safe time wherever you are. I wish you all the best in your fiction if you are writing one and for the others, I hope you would all support me spiritually to strengthen me. I need all the help I could get. Now, I hope you would review, it would really brighten my day! Actually, it always does and always will. If I could beat a very difficult level in the EXCELLENT Half-Life mod Heart of Evil, I'll die a happy man. Thank you all once again, you guys really are the best!**


	16. Metamorphosis

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 16: Metamorphosis_

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! I do own Rin though, yeah I so do! She's really pretty and I really like that!

"...": Speech

'...' Thoughts

Scene Change is listed in bolded italic brackets because this site screws up your fonts!

**AN: _(Takes out a pen and journal. Then shakes a bit)_ Okay journal, will you be my friend and keep a secret? _(Now, I really sound crazy... must be the military breakdowns.)_ Readers are really warm and kind, it's one of the best experiences in writing so far. Some were actually hungry for my blood... I don't know if my blood actually tastes that good... I like to shoot things to make blood appear, I was never the one to taste it in person. Anyway, enough about blood. Thank you all so much for your honest reviews, I'm really happy to see more of you open up and share things. All your sincere thoughts are appreciated by me, even though I haven't see nearly any of you in person, I wouldn't like it if any of you lied. I'm sure you wouldn't like it either if I did something like that. Life has been really crap, my friends are feeling much stress and I couldn't do so much to help him, yep, I sure feel powerless. That's how that alone inspired this chapter. Those who reviewed will be thanked, hope you all love this chapter! Of course those who helped me spiritually will also be thanked.**

**_Reviewers' Period: (I could've posted this up sooner but I had to re-modify my PC, that took 2 days)_**

**Crimson-Strike:** You think I took it beautifully? To be honest, I had more self-confidence this time around, I felt that this was good action, quite easy to follow with a slight touch of more technical terms here and there. I know there are plenty of losers in this world, they are just a bunch of fateless cowards. Oh yeah, you should expect some people to do that to your fic, it's not like I wish for it to happen but if it happened to me, it could happen to you. Just don't react how I did by saying F this and F that, I think I was really reckless and too tempered. Thank you for saying that, I really needed someone to give me the right advice at the right time, you're a good guy man, really good guy. Relaxing from vicious reality... I would like that... I truly would love to do that. Sometimes, I review my own work and could fall in that trance, it does feel good. Smaller paragraphs... it depends on what situation. I'll try nonetheless, thank you for your honesty. If that is even possible, I'll give you something worth your respect.

**YoukoSesshomaru's True Love: **Oh, you ARE SO NICE to me! (Gives you a great brotherly hug since I am older than you are. A kiss on the cheek if you want.) Having men and all the weapons and armour is sure a good thing but it wouldn't help if a rocket hit my face directly. That happened enough times to bug the crap out of me. I have to like you for your exuberant messages, it's good to see someone that considerate. You're a rare person to find these days, I really want to show my gratitude to you by giving you a Hinata and Naruto plushie? If you don't like it... wow... who knows what girls like these days. Thank you so much for you constant support! (Gives you a hug before you read the chapter)

**Dream Walker and Kaarafear: **Your words of absolute wisdom really helped this story into what it is. Dream Walker, you are the best friend I have on while Kaarafear-sempai here has to be another great teacher/advisor. Both of you have my thanks!

**Dragon Noir: **Wow, I so thank you for your support and encouragement. I personally think that I made a creative storyline but I can't comment too much on it until others think so. Yeah, I think I have enough guts to say it's a decent appealing storyline, since you know Warcraft3, I'm sure it's quite easy for you to get this. I also remember your questions, you have noted good points I tell you, I was wondering about them myself but when your words came in, wow, I knew I had to do something about it. Thank you for your support and sincerity, you're a guy that I would put their words into deep thought since... well, you are truly honest! Hope you love this chapter!

**Otakuss:** Blood... I want your blood... female blood is always sweet... _(Eyes turn blood red and fangs grow out like yours and mimic your actions like a mirror.)_ ARGH... the pain... reader was too sweet _(the human emotion, not sensation),_ must control self... _(Turns back to human and less vampuric)_ What happened... did I lose control again? Whatever just happened, man, I'm sure it would happen again... I mean, it WOULD NEVER happen twice! Thank you for your consideration, I will take your advice and take my time. Hey, I have been doing an okay job at such a short and tight amount of time, right? I hope I would do a better job, thank you so much! If you wave a flag that says 'I love OpposingForce', man, you would make my day. People would think you are an addict of the game while I know you love me... wow, imagine it. Just being silly here, my friend, don't take it too personally if you don't like it. It just really beats saying thanks all the time, I just want to loosen up. _(Gives you a hug for your sincerity since I know you are a girl! No hard feelings.) _Hope you like my next chapter!

**Wolfgirl13: **You don't like being on the Others list, well you don't have to anymore. It's sure good to see you here once again, I'm really glad that you liked my last chapter and yes, I have seen Inuyasha, I like the fics but I haven't see enough episodes to know all the characters. Still good but I prefer Naruto a lot more. I will really take my time knowing the sickening truth of reality... time is really never my friend, well I hope I made something decent here. Thank you so much for your honest words!

**Stoictimer:** Trust me, words could be more powerful than actions. Thanks for being honest, I wouldn't like it if you lied. I'm sure you feel the same way. Anyway, I will tell you I didn't get enough rest THIS past week. Sleeping at midnight and waking up at 7 isn't that great. Before at least I had 8-9 hours of sleep, now I have 7. Really sucks if you know what I mean. The sleeping pills thing is just a joke, I got that from MAD TV. Funny show... well some of the drama are at least. Anyway, hope you like this chapter!

**joecool: **Your predictions are correct, it is Metamorphosis time. I hope you like it , my friend. I'm trying to figure out if there are any more funny lines in OpForce... something worth to remember has to be "Your weapon is your best friend, it is your only friend." Don't mention it about the R. Period, if you bothered to review, you're on it and to top it off you catch up with this story. I know you're a loyal reader. Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**sephynarutocloud: **Thanks for liking my story so far. I remember you calling me a pervert on chapter 8. I wonder which part did you mean I was pervert in. The stalking? Kakashi being a jerk and deciding to help with Icha Icha Paradise or is there more? Anyway, thank you so much for your review. I know you changed your name, your email told me everything I needed. Your words are filled with enthusiasm, I have to give you credit for that. If you want to add me on your MSN list, feel free. I could use a good reader to chat with. Hope you like my new chapter.

**Cynical Chaos: **I read your profile... wow, after reading it I can't tell if you are stating the truth or trying to flatter me. Anyway, I'll push these things aside for now, I want you to know that thank you for being a consistent reader. I appreciate it! Your profile helped me wrote part of this chapter. I'm sure you would recognize it when you start reading. Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope you have some more words of wisdom for me later on!

**En Satsu Koku Ryuu Ha: **I am starting to get tired from typing... I've been doing this all afternoon. MEDIC! Enough of my silliness, I'm sure happy to solve your questions, I really hope you like this chapter. If you're going into the psychology field, do what I do. See things differently. Not to mention think about what you hear or see twice before jumping into conclusions. Things are never what they seem to be a lot of times. I don't think you need me to tell you that, but just a friendly advice. There will be more 'Life and Death' this chapter, hope you like it! Later!

**Max Knight: **If things aren't a little OOC, it wouldn't be that fun. Still glad you like the new attitudes, I'm happy to make another reader appreciate my story.

**Hikiya:** Are you the person who was the reviewer that used ......? Anyway, happy to clear things up. The last thing I need these days are more misunderstandings. Hey, don't cry, it's just an update, here, here, let me give you another good story so you wouldn't cry. I wish someone would do that to me so I would be happy. Nope, reality tells me you have to earn what you want. Sad... anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**DrunkenFistLee:** Wow, what enthusiasm and encouragement, THANKS MAN! I wonder why you tried to read it all at once. Without the AN stuff, this story is around a hundred thousand words. What have we learned today... never attempt to read too much, it hurts your eyes. I learned it the hard way, so take my words with consideration. My eyes, it burns, these googles do nothing! (Simpsons Line) I ain't the best romance person, I'll admit but I always loved a more outgoing Hinata, sort of like her true self exposed if you know what I mean. As long as you respect it, that's good enough. Glad you like my psychology, it took me quite a bit time to think about them. Glad my efforts paid off. You know my friend, I hope you like this chapter too.

**One Azn Dragon:** Yes, finally a decent action scene for you! I was wondering when I would actually make it acceptable. I'm glad you gave your comment, I needed it. I'm glad you're a loyal reader, it's good to see another man like yourself reading this. I've cut out some of the mushy stuff out of the way for now since I don't need it yet. Like c'mon, huge make out sessions in the chunnin exam? OpForce, get real! I know you are one deep action fan but I also want to know if you like romance? I'm just curious. Now, here is another action filled chapter! Thanks for reading again, my friend!

**Place-your-name-here:** Don't worry about your short review, I understand if you were playing Warcraft3. Man, it's an addictive game isn't it? Yep, it sure is. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Night-Owl123: **This is as ASAP as I could go. Man, when you have burdens, you have burdens. Thank you for loving my story, I still think it's decent, not that great. Thanks for reviewing!

**Anonymous:** Sorry to disappoint you with the update speed this time around... (sulks in an apologetic way) As mentioned, reality is getting onto me quite badly. It's always job first and others second, it'll always be this way for as long as we live. However, that doesn't mean I can't make this story, I won't allow anything to pull me back. Thank you for liking my story, I never thought of it as suspenseful, thank you once again!

**Wormkaizer:** Yes, I had to make Orochimaru nearly killing our main hero since I can't have the boy winning all the time. If he loses now and then, that'll make the story a lot more interesting. He still has his flaws and weaknesses, you'll see. Thanks for being a loyal reader, it brightens my day to see another familiar name on the reviews. I have to admire your optimism, I wish I had that in real life. Hope you like this chapter!

**dee-unlm1t3d: **You thought Death Knight was actually a fancy term used for a high level slaves of the Lich King? I never thought of it that way, they were once Paladins and the Lich King highly respects these generals in battle. I'm grateful that I didn't show it as just a fancy title, I'm glad that I made it into something that's worth the name. Thanks for appreciating my story, I hope you'll continue to enjoy the future chapters!

**RuByMoOn17: **Is it getting better by the minute? Wow, never thought of that way, I always thought I was just doing my job in the best of my ability. I'm happy that you like it, it helps me get into the spirit. Please sit back and enjoy the ride of the new chapter!

**chibikakashi: **Thanks for liking my chapter, I like long stories too! Hope you like this long chapter my friend!

**Blitz-kun: **You wanna read more? Here you go, more free gifts from this soldier! Thanks for liking my work!

**Crutches:** THANK YOU so much, your smile sure did the job in making me more spirited.

**Gopu:** Thanks for being a loyal reader, I appreciate it!

**(Meanwhile inside the central tower of the Forest of Death)**

"Haku-sempai..." whispered Rin as she slid into her blanket slowly. "Do you think ni-san and his team would be okay?" The female archer then snuggled and curled herself into more of a ball.

"I'm sure they would be okay..." answered Haku as he stared at the ceiling of a better quality sleeping area than the participants did. "I wouldn't worry that much... knowing Naruto's strength he should come out fine."

"I got a very uneasy feeling about this," said Rin doubtfully. "I could feel a dangerous aura somewhere... it doesn't feel too welcoming..."

"You're just too nervous," stated Haku. "I'm sure the anxiety and worries have gotten too much to you. Rin, you are usually like this when something really big is about to happen. Just loosen up a bit, okay?" Rin bit her lip slightly, she couldn't understand how Haku could be so carefree like at a time like this. The Kamishiro girl then glanced over to her sempai with a look of irritation, he turned his head the other way to avoid any eye contact. Deep down, the Hunter-nin felt the aura as well, he just wanted to have more faith in his friend but he couldn't deny what Rin just said, the feeling was not welcoming at all. _'Ni-san...'_ she thought looking out to the night with a touch of despair. _'I hope you're okay... I can't accept it if I see the first person I truly loved die... please don't allow my assumption to come true...'_ She then sat back up knowing she wasn't in the mood to sleep. She then took out the same book that Naruto always carried, she was one who depended on this when she needed it. She turned to a random chapter and started to read to herself in her head.

_'Life is not a fair game, we all know that, there's no use in denying it. Despite how much we could lie to others, we can't lie to ourselves. There's no use to make things look good when they truly aren't, it's only a matter of time before a human being wouldn't be able to take it for much longer. Praise, let's talk about praise for a moment. We all love to meet someone's expectations and be praised for it. (AN: Completely taken from Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni but this little story would get better.) You may say that 'No, I don't do this for fame', true, you may not be. However, in your heart you want your work to be recognized and wanted by others. It's true, we all want our work to receive all the attention and praise it rightfully deserve, no rants or complains should even get into the picture. I'll tell you what, this is a human ambition, that's how all our minds work no matter if you're an introvert or an extrovert, whether you're good at singing or writing.'_

_'We all want to be wanted and appreciated in some ways, it's clear that we would consider using our strengths to show off ourselves. Despite what your intentions are, there will be people who want to destroy your moment, who don't want your operation to continue. Wherever you go, there will be these kinds of people around, there is no escaping them. It's true that one who sabotages others is very intolerable but the one who's affected by it shouldn't take actions recklessly. If you seek revenge, you are no better than them. Think about it carefully, never deal with this kind of situation as if you desire vengeance. However, it doesn't mean you should back down from it, take it seriously.' _

'_It does hurt when people say 'You suck!' in your face or anything insulting but at times you have to think about why they're saying that. Sometimes, they could be just saying it to upset you. However, if a lot of people say the same thing, maybe it's the fact that your work/performance is truly not appealing. Don't expect everything that you do would be praised, especially when not much effort and thought has been put into a certain thing. You and I both know when each of us did a bad job at something, there's no use lying. A poor job is a poor job, there's no point in making it look as something it isn't. If you did put in hard work and thought, you know those insults are meaningless.'_

_'Selfishness, another poor quality of a human being. It's a person's natural ambition to be selfish. You may say 'I'm not selfish, I'm very generous.' but that phrase is a lie. Anyone is generous to an extent, there will be a point that a person is willing to sacrifice more of their interests and wants. We all want the best for ourselves, think about it carefully. Even lovers could do so much for their loved ones before they want something in return. In a relationship, one can not be selfish and place themselves as number one in their lives but at the same time, no one could be that demanding...' _

Rin then closed her book and rested in deep thought. Somehow her mind journeyed back to her beloved brother. She loved Naruto the day she met him, she was in the love triangle herself at a part of her life. The female archer could remember how much she admired him and always wanted him to have the same feelings for her. However, she loved him at the wrong time. Naruto kindly rejected her love and only saw her as his closest sister he would ever have.

Rin accepted that fact and she still did today but it truly pained her somewhat to see that her brother now had a girlfriend and the girl wasn't her. She knew he loved her too but not in the same manner. Rin wasn't jealous of Hinata, she wished them the best sincerely. The Kamishiro girl knew Naruto inside out, she knew whatever she felt moments ago was not a sign of her own anxiety level going too high, something was happening. _'Ni-san...' _thought Rin as she began to close her eyes and drift to sleep. '_Please make it out of this alive...'_

"Can I come in?" asked a voice suddenly which was fairly familiar to Rin. The girl slowly sat back up and looked over to the door.

"You may..." answered Rin carefully. As the figure entered, Rin couldn't help but feel a bit more secure to find someone she already met. "Sasuke-san, it's good to see you." She greeted him warmly with a grateful smile.

"Thanks..." mumbled the Uchiha blushing slightly as he saw the gorgeous girl in front of him. Rin noticed his blush and gave an even brighter smile to tease him a little bit. Sasuke's shade of fuchsia did deepen which made Rin grin mischievously but soon his face turned back into a serious one.

"Is there anything you need, Sasuke-san?" asked the Kamishiro girl.

"No... I am having an uneasy feeling right now... about Sakura and her team..." answered Sasuke in a low and yet serious tone.

"What about it?" She asked dumbly and innocently.

"I feel a dark presence somewhere in the forests... I don't know if I'm too sensitive but I haven't been able to feel too relaxed ever since I felt it..." 'He must be referring to the aura I'm feeling...' thought the violet hair girl narrowing her eyes slightly. 'If that aura is coming from the deep forests... I think only ni-san could produce something like this...'

"Could you be overreacting?"

"I don't know..." replied the Uchiha. "Maybe I am too tense right now... I may be just too worried about Sakura."

"I'm sure Sakura-san would be fine, Naruto-ni-san is with him." stated Rin giving a smile that was somewhat forced. She knew better not to twist the truth.

"I know, yeah, I should have more faith on her, she did towards me."

"Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure that they would like it if you put more faith into them."

"Maybe I should," said Sasuke considering what Rin just said. "Thanks, Rin, I think I might've been worrying too much, your words really helped me."

"No problem," said Rin with a smile. "We all may have these dilemmas sometime, right?"

"You're right, I think I bothered you enough for one night... I'll head back now."

"Sure, good night, Sasuke-san." Rin bid a farewell warmly that made the boy smiled back in return.

"Good night, Rin." Sasuke then made a calm exit out of the room. As the Kamishiro girl made sure the boy left, she was back in her own thoughts. _'If Sasuke-san felt it... this doesn't sound good to me. Naruto-ni-san, please be okay...'_ With that out of her mind, she slowly but reluctantly drifted to sleep.

Somewhere in the deep forests, three Konoha genins were still awake. It was the time for them to gather up for a progress report. It would be wise for them to figure out a plan early to plot a strategic advantage.

"So, how are things?" asked the leader of the group no other than Hyuga Neji.

"Very good," replied Lee casually leaning his arm to a tree. "I've located a river not too far from here, I'm certain it would be safe enough if we use that for our water supply. Neji, how about you?"

"This area is full of food just like the instructor said there would. However, there are many surprises here in gathering process... just be careful." Tenten and Lee both nodded in agreement.

"I've found a decent hidden place for shelter," reported Tenten as she took a zip from her water bottle. "It's across from here and I spotted no teams near there either."

"That's good to know," said Lee. "We should commandeer it soon."

"Was there anything strange that you found on the way there?" asked Neji double checking.

"I found nothing strange." Lee gave a very prompt response.

"I saw a several dead bodies on my way..." said Tenten remembering how crippled all the bodies looked. "I found 4... that means 2 teams already failed."

"Already?" asked Neji with a smirk. "Looks like we have some impatient ones in this test. Nonetheless, we don't want to experience the same fate as those unfortunate ones. Staying here would only be worth to our disadvantage. We should move out to the spot Tenten found."

"Okay."

"Roger!" replied Lee silently but firm. Then the three leaped high and disappeared in a flash.

_**(In the forests that night)**_

Hinata and Sakura just couldn't sleep that night, with their leader in such a death like state, they couldn't stop worrying for a second. Hinata held on to his hand the entire time, she refused to let go. Sakura thought it was only natural for her concern towards the silver hair Death Knight was high as well. The only thing she hoped for was to see her best friend have that cheerful spirited face that lightened her every morning. It pained Sakura to see Hinata like that, it pained almost anyone who cared about her.

With another kiss on the cheek, Hinata looked over at her lover's face. She frowned knowing his condition wasn't progressing as well as planned. The boy showed signs of both pain and irritation, he also sweated heavily from time to time. She felt his forehead for the first time, she realized he had a fever. With his body at such a weakened state anything could happen. As Naruto continued to struggle to feel better, Hinata and Sakura soon broke into tears once again, they really didn't know what to do. In reality, who would? It wasn't like this happened often. However, little did they know the poison within the Death Knight was slowly taking the deadly effects. If he didn't regain his strength soon, the poison would really take his life. Normally, some poison wouldn't be able to do that but when your body was in such a fragile state, you won't be too immune to a lot of things.

Indeed the poison was zapping a lot of his energy, he needed help but refused the dark energies to step in. However, his mind wasn't thinking like that, he could feel the dark aura already and it wasn't the Unholy Aura, he knew it was something else. Kyubi could sense this a long time ago, he thought Naruto would have enough power not to be influenced. However, seeing her favorite apprentice struggling for this long, she knew it was only a matter of time before he gave in. She couldn't allow it to happen, not here, not now.

**_(Inside Naruto's mind, a mental combat began)_**

'_Death Knight,'_ she called softly as she approached him. As the boy turned around to face her, she gasped slightly when him covering the left side of his face with his hand. The part uncovered still showed his cerulean eyes but she could tell the dark aura was covering that other part of his face. _'Naruto...'_

'_Kyubi-chan...'_ groaned Naruto as he grinned weakly while giving an evil chuckle. _'Hello... aren't you glad that the thing you fear most is going to be reality?'_ He then licked his lips hungrily_. 'It's only a matter of time before I could taste blood again...'_

'_That's the evil spirit talking!'_ she growled as she pulled him close to herself. _'I can't let you be tempted by that thing! I care too much about you to let that happen! Don't let the spirit control you, you're too strong to allow that to happen...'_

'_It's too late, Kyubi-chan...'_ whispered Naruto darkly but a bit less of lust. _'If I don't let it to happen... I will die... I'm really dying! There's too much that I can't let go yet.'_

'_You thought of the consequences if you allow yourself to fall?'_ she questioned him nearly crying. _'Have you thought of the people you love? How could you accept this so willingly?'_

_'I need to survive... I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen!'_ he snapped back with bloody red eyes. The demon mistress knew that was the speech of the dark spirit, the real Naruto would never allow this to happen. She could sense the real him in there, she needed to break it to him and time wasn't on her side.

_'What about Hinata?'_ she asked seriously. _'Remember where you are right now, Hinata and Sakura are by your side waiting for you to recover. Are you that heartless to transform into a demon and kill them? Are you willing to hurt them?'_

_'Yes!'_

_'No you won't, you would hurt Hinata?'_

_'If she gets in my way... I'll destroy her!'_

_'You would hurt them? You love them both, Naruto! She loves you with all her heart, you two went through a lot for your relationship to happen! Hinata is the most important person in your life, remember? Don't even think of doing something that reckless to the one you love! Don't let the dark energies to control you, they're messing with your head. Be strong. Remember I'm here too to help you, you're not alone here. Sakura, Hinata and I are here, hang in tight and don't allow the darkness to consume you.' _Naruto then removed his hand off his face and gave a nod. Kyubi was relieved to see his left eye returned to the blue colour she loved. Even so, she could tell his mental state was in awful crisis. All the demon master could do now was wait and see what kind of chaos would erupt.

**_(In the early morning the next day)_**

The female shinobis of Team 7 watched over the Death Knight until daybreak, it was clear to anybody that they barely slept during the night. There was just too much to concern for them to experience any type of decent rest. Hinata looked outside of their camping spot with no signs of tiredness whatsoever, she needed to be strong for her Naruto. Sakura walked out from her sleeping spot and yawned a bit. Suddenly, she heard a fire cracking sound nearby. The pink hair girl knew that Hinata or herself didn't carry explosive tags on them, as she opened her eyes, she immediately saw one about a several feet away from her. It immediately exploded causing the girl to scream in pain. The force sent Sakura colliding to a tree with a heavy impact.

"Sakura-san!" yelled Hinata as she watched her friend took the blow completely. It was then when a powerful cutting wind coming from the forest attacked the Hyuga heiress. Hinata took on her guard but unfortunately for her, she was too tired from last night to show any type of resistance. Like Sakura, she was blown forcefully back crashing to the ground near Sakura. Hinata groaned in pain as she got back up on her feet, she glared angrily at whoever pulled off that stunt. This wasn't the greatest time to meet any other teams.

"Who the hell are you?" questioned Sakura as the 3 Sound-nins revealed themselves from the forest with the most confident smirks on their faces.

"You can tell by our forehead protectors," said Dosu pointing to his headband.

"Sound-nins..." hissed Hinata quietly.

"That's right, little girl. Getting you two out of the way should be quite simple."

"Why are you here? What do you want with us?"

"Our intentions are not your concern," snapped Zaku. "Just get out of our way and we'll consider sparing your lives!"

"As if we'll surrender just like that to a bunch of Sound demented retards!" retorted Sakura. "I don't care what you are doing here, we'll make sure you won't proceed any further!"

"As if you could," said Kin very amusedly. "You could see that you're outnumbered."

"Do you see that we care?"

"You're taking the two of us too lightly," added Hinata as she stood in her taijutsu stance. "I know it's not us that you're after..." The 3 Sound-nins jerked back slightly at her words.

"You're after Naruto-ni-chan, aren't you?" questioned the emerald eye girl. "I have no idea who you serve or what you want with him, you're not getting one step closer!"

"I suggest you three to back down now," stated the Hyuga heiress fiercely. "I'll say this, we won't hold anything back to protect him."

"I never expected this kind of resistance," said Kin with much sarcasm but managed to keep a straight face.

"No matter," spat Zaku. "If we beat them when they gave it their all, they would know the true meaning of being powerless. This would definitely be very fun."

"Deal with them," ordered Dosu coldly.

"Enough talk!" demanded Sakura as her teammate dashed to the three immediately preparing another raging battle. Zaku and Kin then leaped together in a team to take on the two Konoha genins while Dosu stayed behind the sidelines to observe.

Kin took on Hinata while Zaku dealt with Sakura, it was clear to both sides this was guaranteed to be a battle that your lives were on the line. Kin took on the first opportunity and decided to fight with taijutsu. The Sound girl first used a swipe kick aimed for the head but the Heiress simply shifted her head back slightly to dodge. Kin cursed her luck and decided to pursuit with punches. Hinata then activated the Byakugan, without much effort she blocked and countered every punch with her own. Hinata knew her opponent wasn't that great with taijutsu, the heiress could clearly tell Kin was testing her strength. She would prove to the Sound girl that testing her patience was one of the last things she should be doing.

As another swift punch was aimed for Hinata's chest, she smirked as dashed forward to take on the offensive. Seeing her opponent's tactics changed, Kin also decided to make a few comebacks. However, that wasn't before she received a palm strike to the face heavily. Stumbling backwards trying to maintain control, the Sound girl tossed a swarm of needles at Hinata. Seeing it coming, Hinata quickly lowered her body to evade the attack completely. 'Damn her!' cursed Kin as she readied herself for another pursuit.

With complete composure, the Sound-nin then threw two groups of needles quickly aimed at her opponent's critical points. The Hyuga girl then formed the hand seal of Blink and teleported away. Kin's eyes widened at Hinata's cunning abilities but she didn't expect the Hyuga heiress to appear right in front of her with her palm ready for a Gentle Fist. As Hinata's hand made contact with Kin's body, her eyes narrowed and twitched when she figured it was a replication.

_'She thought one step ahead of me...'_ thought the Hyuga girl nearly blaming herself but chose to calm down. 'She can't fool my eyes.' This was something Naruto frequently said when he wanted to pierce into someone's thoughts and mind. Sensing a presence behind her, she lifted her left arm to block a kick that was aimed for her head. With the Byakugan activated, no one could hide behind Hinata. However, the Byakugan user was clearly impressed that her opponent was at her blind spot. She knew it must've been a fluke, it wouldn't happen twice. Kin was furious, none of her attacks seemed to be doing anything. It was nearly like her opponent was prepared for anything given to her. As Hinata decided to make a counter with another Gentle Fist, Kin suddenly leaped high into the air.

With a few hand seals, Kin then called down a rain of needles hoping to end things. (AN: It's not as dramatic as the Rain-nins that fought Gaara since Kin isn't a Rain-nin. However, hers is more of a one shot suppressing fire attack. It's deadly nonetheless.) Hinata was impressed with her sudden attack but then smirked as she began generate chakra in her hand. It was then when the heiress stood in another stance.

"Shadow Strike!" shouted Hinata mildly as she released a chakra formed dagger to the needles coming downward to her. Her attack shattered Kin's needles into pieces and continued to head straight for the female Sound-nin. In such a vulnerable position, Kin couldn't make any sort of evasion and took the mysterious attack completely. A great deal of pain was the result causing Kin to scream painfully and crash-landed slightly defenselessly. As she attempted to pull herself together, she was immediately stopped as another considerable amount of pain came to her. Hinata continued to stand in her Hyuga stance as her opponent slowly stood up.

"What the hell did you do to me?" questioned Kin rudely as she held the lower area of her upper body panting heavily due to the pain.

"Nothing much," replied Hinata insincerely. "You just got hit by my Shadow Strike attack, an attack worked best on killing a target with one shot since it does contain a poison in it that's formed with my chakra. At first you feel much agony, then the poison will show more of the side effects later."

"What are you talking..." Kin stopped her talking and held her pained spot more tightly. It wasn't long before she vomited blood. 'I don't understand this...' thought Kin as she coughed. 'My body is suddenly weaker...no, this couldn't be the poison effect is it?'

"Finishing you off would be easy now, your movements has slowed down dramatically." Hinata charged forward at her opponent with high speed knowing Kin was dramatically weaker. Unknowing to the heiress, the Sound nin wasn't as ready to fall down just yet, she still had quite the spirit within her. With a lift of her legs, Kin prepared herself for a spin kick. Before she could proceed with her attack, her movements unexpectedly stopped. Kin fell on her knees vomiting more blood than last time. The pain was there once again, this time it was more severe, she knew she couldn't continue this. Every 10 seconds or less, she could sense a portion of her health being zapped away. It was then when Hinata seized this open chance to strike Kin in the chin once again with her palm sending her gliding backward with much pain. Suddenly, the Shadow Strike effect activated again giving the female Sound-nin another deal of torment. At that time, Kin went unconscious as her body made contact to the ground.

The heiress was proud of her victory but she knew it wasn't the perfect moment to celebrate just yet. Seeing his ally down, Dosu immediately stepped in to engage Hinata in another ferocious combat. Hinata grimaced at the sight but held her ground as the leader Sound-nin made his first pursuit.

**_(Meanwhile)_**

Sakura on the other hand wasn't having such a susccessful fight. Zaku was obviously counting on his brutality rather than cunningness. The emerald eye shinobi secretly was glad that Naruto taught her many evasive techniques, she couldn't believe how handy it had actually become. Sakura could tell her eyes and senses have drastically improved, Zaku's movements didn't seem to be as fast as they seem to be but deadly regardless. Zaku unexpectedly slid out 2 kunais from underneath his sleeves and made a surprise attack at Sakura. Even though it was noticed by the girl, she couldn't deny that it was released at a fairly quick speed. Sakura leaned her head back in the best of her ability and miraculously evaded the attack successfully. Zaku winced his eyes in frustration but smirked as the girl unintentionally made a vulnerable spot as she fixed her composure.

"I see an opening!" shouted Zaku as he launched a kick at the girl. Sakura quickly made a guard but unfortunately it wasn't before the kick made contact with her chest sending her backwards crashing to the ground. The Sound male smiled devilishly while the Leaf genin wiped away the dirt away from her mouth and glared fiercely. She then ran back to him and made a quick combat with taijutsu. It was clear to her that Zaku had more stamina than she had but she knew she would be able to get him. Zaku, however seemed confident he was going to win as his fist jammed the girl on the elbow. Sakura grimaced at the pain but smirked as another punch came. Suddenly, Zaku's attack hit nothing but air, his eyes widened at this.

"What the hell..." he asked himself angrily.

"I'm right here," said Sakura as she appeared next to him after her Phase Shift. Unknowing to Zaku, the girl was already gripping extremely tightly to his left arm. "How does it feel like to be squeezed?" She then strengthened her hold making the boy groan in pain.

"Let go of me!" shouted Zaku as he charged up for an Air Cutter in his right arm. As his free arm aimed at the girl, he didn't hesitate to unleash the powerful gust hidden in it. The winds sent Sakura forcefully back, she couldn't control her actions properly at all. She knew the Phase Shift wouldn't work this time around since the effect could last for 2 seconds at most. That wasn't enough dodging time. It was clear that remaining in that gust would be to her disadvantage, she quickly formed a several hand seals of a technique she hadn't used in a while, it would prove to be very useful.

"Mirror Image!" yelled the girl as she suddenly vanished by a peculiar warp. A mysterious wave movement soon appeared half a second later, 4 Sakuras were there, standing in a combat stance. _'What is this technique... I haven't seen anything like this before...'_ thought Zaku as he prepared himself for a tough combat. At that instant, the 4 Sakuras dashed to her opponent at high agility preparing to strike. As Sakura's fist reached close to her opponent's face, as a natural reaction, Zaku raised a hand to block it. As his hand caught her fist, he was surprised at the strength that was put into it, it was weak. The Sound genin could tell her attacks were fast, some of them were hitting him cleanly and effectively. However, it would've been much more effective if more strength was put into it.

"You're a weak one, bitch!" growled the boy confidently as he blocked another attack. "I should just kill you immediately, you're wasting my time!" Completely out of the blue, his neck then felt an incredible amount of pain jolting into his system. It felt like a forceful karate-chop struck it. He slowly turned his head around just to see another Sakura behind him with her hand to his neck. He could see she was smirking darkly.

"Who's weak now?" she questioned him coldly. "Did you have fun with my Mirror Images?"

"What the hell are they?" he shouted as he cunningly prepared an attack.

"It really wouldn't make a difference if I'm going to kill you," She then took out her kunai from her holster. "Say die!"

"I don't think so, you little red riding bitch..." Sakura then gasped as another gust of wind captured her, Zaku grinned sinisterly and rolled away under the massive pain he still had on his neck. The winds got stronger by each passing second, the girl couldn't break free despite how desperate she wanted to. The winds then turned into a cyclone consuming her fully as she spun inside helplessly. Within a matter of seconds, the cyclone violently released her from the top like an amusement park ride but this time around, it was no ride. The pink hair genin was sky rocketed to the air and soon hit ground with a devastating impact. The immediate result of that collision was a painful vomit of a lot of blood. As the powerless girl continued to cough with much difficulty, Hinata was knocked to the ground sliding roughly on the dirt. The Hyuga girl vomited as well due to the severe injuries she received. Sakura watched Dosu as he tilted from side to side while walking to Zaku, he seemed quite beat up himself. She knew he had a difficult time dealing with Hinata but she couldn't believe the heiress actually lost.

The two male Sound-nins watched the two girls pitifully, they readied themselves for their final attacks. The situation didn't look good for Sakura, her friend was unconscious and to make things already worse than it was, she was badly wounded. She failed Naruto, she failed her team.

"What a terrifying girl..." said Dosu as he regained his normal breathing rate. "Even with my attacks... she just kept going... she managed to beat me this badly when herself was pretty drained "

"Who cares about that now, Dosu!" snapped Zaku angrily yet wanting to end things quickly. "They were challenging, I'll give them that! But it's time for them to meet their maker."

"You're right."

**_(Currently in Naruto's head)_**

_'I don't feel Hinata-chan's energies... Sakura-chan's is too low...'_ thought Naruto worriedly as he tried to maintain his deadly ability to activate. _'Could they be under attack?'_

_'Your friends are under heavy combat...'_ answered Kyubi sadly since she was strong enough to sense the other signatures. _'Sakura is badly wounded and Hinata is down...'_ Naruto's eyes became deadly fierce.

_'How dare they hurt Hinata-chan!'_ the dark shinobi said in an enraging temper. Suddenly, the dark aura once again enveloped him, this time completely.

_'Naruto, no! Don't do it!'_

_'I'll make sure they suffer...'_ Those were his last words before the darkness took him. Kyubi watched helplessly as her apprentice was about to activate his deadly transformation.

**_(Back in reality)_**

"Say your prayers, little bitch!" shouted Zaku as he ran to Sakura with a kunai in hand. Sakura's eyes twitched in anger, she wanted to continue this fight but her body didn't respond in the manner she wanted it to. It felt dead, that last fall was critical. She knew she couldn't evade the incoming attacks, she held a kunai in her hand and readied herself for the worst possible scenario. Sakura thought this was the end, she failed Hinata, she failed her brother. There was too much for her to just let go, she wanted to become a good jounin, be with her friends, allow Naruto to love her as the best sister she could be, be with Sasuke and a lot more. She couldn't now because she was too weak. To herself, she was a loser. _'So this would end everything, would it?' _she thought bitterly.

"Konoha Senpuu!" yelled a familiar voice as he made a 360 degree kick at Zaku's gut. The Sound-nin fell on his back painfully as the new acquaintance landed safely in front of Sakura.

"Lee-san..." said Sakura dumbly. That was all she could gather after that shock. She was so grateful that he was here.

"Hello, Sakura-san," greeted Lee with his back turned to her. "Looks like you need some help."

"Why are you here?" she asked weakly and coughed a bit.

"Like I said before, I will protect you until I die." Lee replied with a smile in his usual taijutsu stance. "How are Hinata-san and Nauto-kun?"

"It looks real bad..."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," called a firm male voice from above. Lee smirked while Sakura looked behind her to see Neji and Tenten together. "Looks like you Sound-nins are nothing but a bunch of bullies who like to pick on rookies." Tenten was shocked to see Naruto and Hinata out of action, she couldn't believe Naruto wasn't even in the battle. She was curious of what happened to him but she had more important things to deal with.

"You look pretty tough," spat Zaku pointing at Neji. "Why don't you come down here and show us what you're worth?"

"Normally I wouldn't care for any other team other than my own," said Neji as his voice contained much rage. "But you have hurt my friends down there and you went overboard with them!" The Hyuga genius then activated the Byakugan which startled the two Sound-nins.

_'His eyes...'_ thought Dosu with fear. _'It feels like he could see everything around him with it... it's just like that girl's...'_

_'His Byakugan,'_ thought Sakura. 'They are even more frightening than Hinata-san's...'

"Still acting tough, huh?" taunted Zaku. "Just because you think you have those eyes doesn't mean you scare me! I'm not afraid of you, c'mon down and fight me like a man!" Neji smirked returned to his face while Tenten also prepared herself for a battle. As Neji and Tenten were about to join Lee who was defending Sakura, he suddenly sensed a very dangerous aura.

'_That chakra... it can't be...'_ thought Neji as a cold sweat came down his side. The weapon master noticed the quick change in his expression, she was puzzled.

"What's wrong, Neji-kun?" she asked as a small sign of fear crept on the Hyuga male's face.

"You're afraid of me?" shouted Zaku confidently. "If you don't like what we were doing, come down and fight!"

"No, there's no point for me to do a thing..." answered Neji as he pointed at the body behind Sakura. Everyone reverted their attention and froze in fear. Dosu cold sweated as he began to see a pitch black source of energy was surrounding the target they were searching for. The energies were growing more powerful, they could feel it in their veins.

"Ni-chan, you're awake..." said Sakura but stopped as she saw him get up. Her eyes showed both pain and fear as he slowly removed his blindfold and opened his eyes, it wasn't teal or cerulean, it was red. His pupils had a strong sense of darkness within it just like how his aura was enveloping him at that moment. As the Death Knight stood tall, everyone took a step back to achieve some distance. Naruto's energies were like a pitch black smoke that was consuming him more and more each second, like a dark figure within a shadow.

"Sakura..." began the transforming half demon in a threatening voice. He didn't even use the suffix chan.

"Yes..." she asked trembling.

"Who did this to you?" he continued in a dangerous tone.

"Naruto-ni-chan... are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," answered the Death Knight coldly. "I feel great, this is only part of the power of the Metamorphosis."

"The what?"

"It's not fully complete yet... but it will be soon enough," he then laughed evilly in a way Sakura had never heard before. Lee and his team narrowed their eyes carefully, they knew this wasn't the Naruto they knew. "I don't like to repeat myself, Haruno Sakura. Who the hell did this to you?"

"I did!" said Zaku proudly. Dosu on the other hand twitched in shock when he heard his teammate's response. At this time, mistakes couldn't be afforded.

"You have signed your death sentence," stated Naruto with a dark laughter.

"I'll like to see you try!" Zaku then prepared himself to strike.

"Zaku!" shouted Dosu hurriedly. "Don't do it!" Despite his teammate's warning, Zaku charged up his attack and unleashed it on the Death Knight hastily and recklessly.

"Maximum Air Cutter!" An extremely forceful razor wind then blasted the dark shinobi. Naruto simply stood there and allowed the attack to hit him directly while Lee, Sakura, Neji and Tenten were having trouble remaining at the positions they were at. Suddenly, Tenten lost her grip on the trees but luckily Neji gripped on her wrist tightly before she went flying off.

"Thank you, Neji-kun," said Tenten blushing.

"Just don't let go!" ordered Neji for he was struggling to stay in one place. After half a minute of devastating winds, Zaku breathed heavily due to the fact he used up a lot of chakra in that one initial blast. As the smoke cleared, he twitched in fear for he couldn't believe what he saw. The dark energies were still present and the silver hair genin still had that smirk on his face. What freaked Zaku and Dosu even more was how the Death Knight defended against his attack. They didn't know when the boy had black devil wings, it seemed to have grown out of his back. Naruto looked demonic.

As the Death Knight stepped closer to them, everyone knew he wasn't affected in any way. Zaku's confidence submerged immediately when he saw no scratches or cuts whatsoever. _'Who is this guy?'_

"You call that your maximum?" questioned Naruto as his stretched out his wings back. "You have to do better than that."

"I'll show you who is the boss!" shouted the Sound-nin angrily as he charged to the half demon hastily. He then unleashed more hidden kunais at him which Naruto tilted his head amusingly to evade. Zaku gritted his teeth angrily and decided to fight him in taijutsu. Naruto didn't even bother to stop him from advancing, he wanted to see how much his opponent could pull off. As Zaku charged with a punch, the demon's wings intercepted the attack. As the fist made contact, Zaku couldn't believe what he felt. He pulled his fist back and held it painfully.

'His wings are as hard as steel...' thought the Sound male in disbelief. 'What in the hell is going on here?' Once Zaku got his act together, he decided to fight him with range. As Zaku aimed his hand at Naruto preparing an Air Cutter, the Death Knight opened his wings into flight. Since it was too late to cancel his attack, Zaku released the Air Cutter rather a bit too recklessly. With a heavy flap, Naruto was in the air looking down at his pathetic opponent.

"I won't let you escape!" shouted the wind user as he continued to blast wind after wind like a maniac. With swift movements Naruto could avoid all of them easily. Zaku didn't give up, he was determined to take him down. As Naruto dived downward at high speed, Zaku then fired numerous of Air Cutters directly at his face. Naruto smirked widely as he shifted his body sideways to dodge one, then flew higher to avoid another and to let Zaku know he was no match for him, he even allowed some of them to hit him. Zaku and Dosu were shocked that none of Zaku's attacks even phased him, even those ones that hit directly in the face.

"Take cover!" shouted Dosu as Naruto dived at high speed. As Zaku ducked to lower himself as much as he could, the Death Knight cursed silently under his breath and glided to a further distance away from them. Zaku got back up immediately and launched another Air Cutter at Naruto's back. The result was a heavy impact but Naruto took the strike completely with no signs of pain. 'This ain't possible!' thought Zaku twitching in fear and frustration. He then dug into his weapon pouches and tossed multiples of shurikens in a legion. However, even though it might've hit him, the shurikens weren't able to pierce through the wings. In truth, it didn't make a dent. Zaku knew his enemy could've evaded them easily, he just decided not to so he could prove how powerless Zaku really was. For the first time during this combat, Zaku experienced fear.

'_It's time to even the scales...'_ thought Naruto while smirking evilly. At that moment he suddenly disappeared. The next second he was already in front of Zaku with an amused look. Before the Sound genin could even jerk back, the Death Knight's knee was in contact with his stomach. While Zaku lowered himself to hold the pained area, Naruto raised his leg and slammed it on his opponent's back in a downward action. Zaku fell face first on the floor painfully, it happened so quickly that they nearly couldn't catch up with. Naruto then stepped on his opponent's back with one foot and the other one pinning Zaku's right arm. Naruto then held his opponent's left arm with his own hands in a dead lock. Then he began to give in pressure to all those three points.

"You seem to like your arms," hissed the Death Knight terrifyingly. "It's such a shame you can't be proud of them for much longer."

"Stop... stop it!" The Sound nin could feel the demon trying to break his body parts.

"Stop?" asked Naruto with much sarcasm. "You're in no position to ask me anything."

"I beg you to please stop!"

"Never." Without hesitation, Naruto directed much pressure at all three points allowing all of them to hear forceful bone and ligament breaking sounds with much tortured screams. The sounds were disturbing and sickening as the genins were shocked to see Naruto still having that hungry smirk on his face. While Zaku was still screaming due to his now crippled arms, the Death Knight couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, it'll heal someday, I can guarantee that. But I want you to have a little present before I fully release you..." He then used his right hand to take out his primary weapon. As he withdrew it, it was charged with dark green energies.

"What are you doing?" grunted Zaku whose eyes were showing nothing but fear.

"To allow you to experience the sensations of death..." The boy pointed the tip of his runeblade at his victim's neck when Zaku was still trembling in pain. Naruto smirked and allowed the Death Coil to release. Tenten and Sakura shut their eyes as all of them saw the display in front of them. The tortured Sound-nin was devoured by this attack in a gruesome manner. He screamed like a girl but no one cared at all. The Death Coil appeared to be eating Zaku alive. His skin gradually turned pale white and he no longer showed much life. His pupils in his eyes became gray when the burst of death was over. Neji's eyes twitched in frustration, frustrated that how could anyone be so merciless? This wasn't the Naruto he met before the exam, it was scary. With Zaku now like a zombie, he no longer had the will to fight. Naruto released the lifeless fool and eyed the last Sound-nin.

"This leaves just you," said Naruto with much lust for death. "You better entertain me better than him..." The half demon then approached Dosu slowly with his runeblade still in his hand. As he made each step, the blade grew brighter with deadly chakra. As he walked by Sakura and Lee, the pink hair girl was in the verge of tears. She couldn't believe what she witnessed in this past minute, it was too overwhelming for her. As she saw Hinata began to get up, Sakura's mind was in chaos. There was no possible way that she could allow Hinata to see him in this form, it would crush her. The kind and supportive Naruto was no longer here, only a ruthless and merciless one stood. He destroyed a person as if it was nothing and now he thirsts for more. Tears came out of her eyes once again, Lee could tell she was emotionally crushed.

"Na-Naruto-kun..." groaned the Hyuga heiress as she forced her body to summon enough strength to pull herself back together. Hearing that voice, Neji and Tenten immediately rushed to her side offering assistance.

"Hinata-sama!" shouted Neji as he supported his cousin. Tenten was surprised that she was awake.

"What happened?" asked Hinata weakly but firm. "Neji-ni-san... please tell me..."

"Naruto has wings..." replied Tenten worriedly. Those words made Hinata's eyes widen in shock. The first thing that struck her was the Metamorphosis. She unexpectedly pushed the two away refusing their help. The older genins were shocked by this outburst. Hinata and Sakura's bodies suddenly reacted on their own, forgetting about all the pains that were still in their bodies they ran and stood in front of him blocking his advance. Tears were in their eyes, they wouldn't allow Naruto to do anymore.

"What do you think you're doing?" questioned Naruto tightening the grip on his weapon with his red eyes flashing dangerously. "Get out of my way or I'll kill you both!"

"Naruto-kun, it's me Hinata!" reminded the Hyuga heiress desperately wanting him to recognize her. "Please... I know you're not fully transformed yet... please return to me. Don't let the Metamorphosis control you, you're too strong to let that happen!" _'Metamorphosis?' _thought Sakura.

"I don't care who you are, you're in my way!" The Death Knight then raised his blade high and readied to strike. However, a sudden pain came into his head. Sakura and Hinata watched him carefully as he held his head painfully.

"Fight it, ni-chan!" encouraged Sakura not really knowing what the Metamorphosis was. She just wanted her brother to be back to the way he was.

"I love you, Naruto-kun... please come back to me..." begged Hinata as she wanted to cry. She couldn't stand to watch him like this for much longer, she immediately attached herself onto him giving the half demon a passionate embrace. Even though she wasn't awake to witness what happened, she had a very clear idea of what was going on. She wanted the gentle and sincere Naruto to return to her, she didn't want her lover to be an engine of destruction. She hugged him tighter while pushing herself a bit closer to him to feel his warmth.

Sensing her touch, Naruto's eyes softened a little and reluctantly looked at her. What the demon saw was a girl who refused to let him go, tears were rolling down her cheeks from her pearl like eyes, a beautiful girl was there for him. To the Hyuga girl's surprise, she suddenly heard a dropping sound and felt a pair of arms embracing her as well. She blushed a bit and looked at him, she could see his wings were extracting back to his body, the dark aura around him was slowly dispersing. Most importantly, his red eyes gradually returned to the blue colour she loved. She then gave in more passion in her hug and Sakura didn't hesitate to join in. When Naruto felt Sakura's touch, his body felt relaxed and breathed softly.

Meanwhile, Dosu was still too shocked at the moment. As his mind jolted back to reality, he immediately took out the scroll he was carrying and alerted the three genins.

"We can't defeat you..." admitted Dosu trembling. "Uzumaki Naruto... please accept this scroll..."

"Why?" questioned the Death Knight harshly. Even though he no longer was transformed, his glare and voice gave the Sound-nin chills.

"I'm forfeiting... you're very strong indeed, without my teammates I can't take you on."

"I refuse to accept your scroll!"

"What?"

"My team has both scrolls already, why would we need yours?"

"Please!" begged Dosu. "Accept it, let us go in peace!" At this point, Dosu was already kneeling bowing his head to the half demon.

"Fateless coward!" shouted Naruto as he gathered chakra to his hand to attract Nightshadow to his hand. "The only place I'll let you go is straight to hell!" He then broke himself out of the embrace he was in and dashed angrily at Dosu. However before any damage was dealt, Sakura quickly took a hold on the boy's wrist halting his assault. Naruto flashed a glare at Sakura. "Let go, Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto-ni-chan, I won't let you! We killed enough people for one day, please stop!" exclaimed the pink hair girl with a saddened look. Naruto narrowed his eyes in irritation for a moment and looked over to Hinata who had the same expression as Sakura. He sighed and decided to calm himself down.

"Please let us go," pleaded Dosu lowering himself lower than dirt. "Give us a chance to run but I will ensure you the next time we meet, we won't run away. I promise you we will fight you to the bitter end."

"Enough of your fancy speeches!" growled Naruto in rage. "Leave your damn scroll and get out of my sight! You're not exactly the best person I want to look at." As an immediate response, Dosu quickly picked up both Zaku and Kin over his shoulders and leaped back into the forests gratefully. As the Sound ninjas were no longer nearby, the Death Knight felt an uneasy feeling within himself. He wanted to vomit but felt too weak to do anything. Without noticing, he fell face first to the ground. The remaining five genins panicked.

**_(Days later since that delinquent encounter with the Sound nins)_**

He didn't know how long he had passed out for, when he regained enough strength to open his eyes, he found out he was lying on a bed. He could tell he wasn't in his room, the ceiling was white while his was blue. As he paid more attention around, he could see a several people were here with him. Hinata, Sakura, Rin, Haku, Sasuke and the Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko were present.

"Naruto-kun, you're finally awake!" exclaimed Hinata as she hugged him immediately without a second thought. Naruto coughed a bit due to her sudden actions but didn't hesitate to hug her back.

"Hey it's okay, Hinata-chan, I'm fine." He assured in the best of his ability. She then claimed his lips in a deep kiss. Haku and Sasuke both grinned a little at the sight, it was good to see the two reunite with another. Sakura wanted to do that with Sasuke as well but she didn't know how he would react. Rin at that time was too angry at her brother for being so careless before. She had to interrupt the moment.

"Ni-san, you had us worried!" shouted Rin as she held his hand tightly on the other side of Hinata.

"What happened to me?"

"Based on these medical reports..." said Haku. "You suddenly fainted after your last battle."

"Fainted?" asked Naruto in disbelief. "How did..."

"Ni-san, your body was still too weak at that time," said Rin concernedly. "You shouldn't be so reckless, you had me so worried!"

"I'm sorry Rin-chan..." apologized Naruto. "I just..." Rin then put a finger to his lips and gave him an understanding look. Naruto simply smiled back. "I'm sorry to worry you, all of you."

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," said Hinata kissing him on the cheek. "As long as you're okay."

"Naruto," called Sasuke with a grin with Sakura next to him with her head on his shoulder. "You really kept Sakura in one piece, you truly do keep your word."

"Did you discuss something with ni-chan without me?" asked Sakura eyeing her friend cautiously. Sasuke and Naruto simply laughed a little. "Sasuke-kun, what did you two talk about?"

"I'm sure Sasuke will tell you, Sakura-chan," replied the Death Knight as he kissed Hinata on the forehead gently. He then looked over at Anko who was really quiet for a long time. "Anko-san, is there something you need to talk to me about?" The Special Jounin then woke up from her thoughts and took a glance at the Death Knight seriously. When she gave a nod to him, Naruto could tell there would be a long explanation after this.

"You can talk a little bit," said Anko. "I would need to talk to you a little later though." Naruto silently nodded while Anko exited the room quietly.

"So, how long was I out for?" asked Naruto to Haku.

"This is already the third day of the exam, you arrived around morning of the second day," answered the Mist hunter-nin. "I'm surprised to see you awake after that severe injury of yours. You really are quite the guy."

"Thanks, sempai..." groaned Naruto as coughed a bit. Hinata tugged him closer to herself while Rin felt his pulse. She was glad it was normal. "Even so... where am I?"

"You're in the ward of the tower," explained Sakura happily. "You know what that means?"

"Not really..." answered Naruto with Hinata giggling beside him.

"We passed the exam!" exclaimed Hinata and Sakura joyfully. Naruto just gave them a grin, deep down he was glad to pass this thing. Rin and Haku smiled with them while Sasuke gave his friend a pat on the shoulder.

"That's good to hear, but how many teams have passed so far?" This time around, the Death Knight's question was serious. Rin and Haku obviously didn't know but Sasuke seemed to hold the answers.

"The very first team that arrived was the Sand team..." said Sasuke in a low voice. "That team with the red head with a gourd. My team arrived second and your team and Hyuga Neji's team arrived at the same time."

"There are only 4?" The Uchiha, Hinata and Sakura nodded together. "How did Neji's team get here the same time as us?"

"We gave them the additional scroll that we didn't need," explained Hinata. "They tried to help us... I think it was the least that we could do to show our gratitude. I hope you're not mad..."

"No, don't be silly. I want to fight Neji and Lee in the future, I would be disappointed if they didn't make it. Hinata-chan, I'm glad you did that."

"Looks like ni-san never likes to avoid strong opponents," teased Rin as she took a cup of tea and offered to her brother. "You are always like this."

"What's the fun in fighting weak people, you get nothing out of it if you win." All the others had to agree with that logic, looks like the boy's wisdom was still there.

"Naruto-ni-chan, how did you get that wound to begin with?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, Naruto-kun, that had to be the most serious injury I had to treat yet," added Hinata. "You made me worried sick about you. How could you have disappeared like that on us?"

"I think I may have part of the answer you are looking for, Hinata-san, Sakura," said Sasuke. "I'll tell you guys later, okay?" The two girls then nodded and reverted their attention to Naruto.

"Ni-san, it's a good time for the talk with Anko," reminded Rin as she looked at the clock. "Sasuke-san, Hinata-san and Sakura-san, I'm sorry but Anko specifically said only sempai, ni-san and I could be present."

"We'll tell you as much as we could later, okay?" Haku tried to compromise. Despite how much Hinata wanted to be with her lover, she knew she was in no position to complain. She then kissed her boyfriend softly on the cheek which made him smile in return. Sakura then took her best friend's hand and exited the room with Sasuke. As soon as the three left the room, Anko accompanied with Kakashi entered and closed the door. The two jounins then took a seat near Naruto and sat silently.

"So, what do you need me to talk about?" asked Naruto sort of knowing what they want already.

"How about if you start from the beginning?" asked Kakashi kindly.

"Yes, start at the point when the second exam started," corrected Anko. "You have to tell us everything that you remember, okay?" Naruto simply nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, that's fine with me, Kakashi-san, Anko-san," said Naruto quite co-operatively. "There are some questions I might want to ask you two myself." _'So, it begins...'_

**AN: I need to apologize for the late update this time around. As you can see work as gotten in my way to write this story in time. I suppose it ain't that bad, I could've took even longer. Anyway, I hope you all loved this chapter. I will apologize if you think that the Metamorphosis was a little short or not exciting enough. Feel free to complain about it, I personally think that it was a little short but I couldn't imagine what would've happened if he lost himself. If he did, he would've changed the storyline too much and I would be in serious deep trouble. The last thing I need is to make any more writers block for myself. They are truly troublesome, for any authors out there, I'm sure you know my pain. I'm certain that there will be another case of the Metamorphosis, who knows when he would use it. Oh yeah, the transform isn't as dramatic as the real Demon Hunter's ability, Naruto would have only bloody red eyes, dark aura, maybe a bit more built and devil wings with a very wide wingspan like a demon. To those who thought the ending part of the transformation was kind of cheesy... well, I think I'm running low on ideas. Not that low, don't worry about that. If you have good suggestions, I'm happy to hear it. If you want to complain about that cheesy ending of the transformation, feel free. I need some discipline.**

**Before I go, I really want you reviewers to tell me which one of you don't know Warcraft3 at all, like absolutely no idea. If you really don't know it, tell me and I will explain things in a more orderly fashion. Just because I understand this story, doesn't mean all of you would. Feel free to tell me, I don't mind the effort. As long as no misunderstanding arise, that'll be good enough for me. Next chapter may take a week or so since I have work for one more week, I hope you guys would be patient with me. Thanks again for reading!**


	17. Reign of Confusion

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 17: Reign of Confusion_

**Disclaimer: (Yawns while checking the aim of my 9mm Assault Rifle) After these many chapters... is there still a need for any of you to know that I don't own Naruto or Warcraft3? I suppose rules are the rules, ne?**

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scenario Change descriptions will be listed in bolded italic brackets.

**AN: SO SORRY FOR THE 10 or so days update! No, I haven't forgotten about my story, I am still continuing this fiction of mine. There are two reasons why I was so slow on this chapter. One, I had my summer job, it was a real blast but now it's over. I already miss it, I miss it very much, I really mean it. Second, during the process, I caught the symptoms of a flu where my body ached all over and medicine could only do so much. I had it for 3-4 days and there was no way my body could be in front of the computer screen typing. Lastly, maybe I got lazy and inspiration level was getting a bit low. **

**Playing Opposing Force and other first person shooter games like Counter Strike really isn't the greatest way to seek ideas for this fic. _(If any of you want to make an excellent teamwork map on the chapter of FRIENDLY FIRE in Opposing Force, where you have a SAW soldier, shotgun grunt, an Engineer and a Medic to aid you seize a train in a another area, feel free to ask me. In Opposing Force, the chance of meeting friendly soldiers is too low, that's why I love to make these challenging maps. Cheating is really great, it really allows me to do anything I need. One final note, the map is really hard! The success rate is 10, you'll know why when I explain it)_ Now, thank you to all who reviewed, some of you even sent me emails to ask me for certain tasks, don't worry, I will give you answers that you seek. To any readers out there who read this frequently but just never got the hang of reviewing, I won't force you to review, I just hope you all like this story and continue to support me spiritually. THANK YOU all who have been my support for this time, I really couldn't imagine what I would do without your words of encouragement. **

**Those who don't know Warcraft3, I suggest you go to the official site of blizzard for details. If you have specific questions for me, feel free to tell me. Sadly to say, I am not that great of an interpreter. **

REVIEWERS' PERIOD: (There will be none this time around, there are just too many people to thank and I don't want to postpone this chapter any longer than I already have. Those who reviewed, you know who you are. If you are a loyal reader, I thank you all so much for your constant support in words. Those who are my friends who I chatted with personally online or respond in reviews or I know you in real life, you have my sincere respect! THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! There would be one next chapter.)

I want to thank those who did review. Kaarafear, Dream Walker 3, Cynical Chaos, Chibified Kitsunes, One Azn Dragon, Otakuss, sephynarutocloud, Wormkaizer, Max Knight, Dragon Noir, YoukoSesshomaru's True Love, mystikd 109, Daveboo 1378, Place-your-name-here, joekool, RuByMoOn 17, Mahina, Night-Owl 123, chibikakashi, Wolfgirl 13, Father Malvado, clicke, Crutches, stoictimer, hopefullight, dark-and-daisuke, know-it-all, LiveLoveLaugh, Rurikat, (One special good friend from my church) and Gopu!

**AN: Let the saga continue, shall we?**

**_(In Naruto's medical room)_**

"So," said Kakashi giving a cough. "What happened to you during the exam? You had a severe wound when you were out there, I want to know how you got it?"

"So direct and to the point already?" asked Naruto amused. "How did you know I had an injury? I'm sure that I didn't have it when I came in..."

"Hinata and Sakura told me," interrupted the masked jounin seriously. "They said that they never saw such a critical opening to heal that quickly. Hinata seemed to know why but she refused to say it, Sakura on the other hand had no idea."

"So we need the whole thing from you," added Anko. "It's not like we're trying to be jackasses and pierce into your life and all but you have to admit, there aren't too many people here that could take your life." Naruto sighed a bit and took a thought about it. The jounins did have a point but there was one thing that he didn't understand.

"How did Hinata seem to know the reason of my quick recovery?" he asked bluntly.

"Ni-san," admitted Rin with slight guilt. "I told Hinata-san when you weren't there..."

"Why did you do that?" questioned the dark shinobi a bit disappointed.

"It's better for Hinata-san to know than for her to see it for herself and not know what to do at all!"

"The Metamorphosis is something I rather keep a secret of unless it can't be prevented," argued Naruto. "How can you just tell her that as if you think that's what I want to do? Who are you to decide what kind of things I should be telling people or not?"

"You freaked me out so much the first time I saw you use it!" Rin shouted angrily which Haku was startled. Naruto on the other hand remained unaffected. "How could you not care for the safety of your loved ones? You nearly killed sempai and I since you lost control of yourself! How could I bear to see you attack Sakura-san or Hinata-san because of your transformation?"

"I'll take responsibility for my own actions! I don't need you to guide my life, Rin-chan!"

"Why are you so stubborn? Even so, can you take it? After killing Hinata-san and Sakura-san do you think you could live your life the way before?"

"Yes, I can." Naruto declared emotionlessly.

"What you mean is... if I died, you would..."

"I would grieve for you, but not for long."

"Ni-san... I care too much about you... can't you see I still..."

"I know..." stated the boy as he silenced her with a finger to her lip. "I know you really like me, you want to do everything to keep me from harm. I understand your intentions Rin-chan but I rather deal with it myself."

"Get real, Naruto," said Haku. "I'm sure if you never needed to transform in this lifetime, I bet you would hide it from Hinata-chan forever. Am I right?" Naruto winced at his words but couldn't deny it. Once the Mist-nin saw the grimace, he knew he made his point.

"You're right," admitted the Death Knight reluctantly. "I would pretend this thing never existed..."

"Why hide it? It's not like it's a big secret."

"Not a big secret?" snapped Naruto rudely flashing a glare. "What did I just hear? Sempai, have you felt what it's like to be a half demon, where everyone you know or care sees you as an engine of mass destruction? I want to prove that I am not that kind of thing they despise! Don't you dare say that the Metamorphosis isn't something that's crucial! I could kill anyone when I'm in that form, who knows what I might do?"

"Hey, cut it out here," ordered Anko silently. "We are here to talk, not to argue remember?" The three teens then sighed inwardly and looked over at the jounin with a not satisfied expressions. "Now, tell us what happened out there, Naruto."

"Fine," said Naruto recalling the events that he could remember. "When we started the second exam..."

**_(Time goes by gradually)_**

"Did you say Orochimaru?" questioned Anko threateningly but not towards the boy. Naruto nodded slowly and anger was building inside. "How could this be? What in the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know myself..." answered Naruto. "I'm just mad that I wasn't good enough to kill him... I was too careless and he got away... If anything happens now because of him, I'm to blame."

"Naruto," comforted Kakashi. "I'm sure that you did your best to battle him. I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I'm proud that my sensei's son has done many services miraculous things to protect Konoha from any harm. If you didn't stop him, who knows what might've happened?"

"I still failed..." whispered the Death Knight sadly. "I failed because of my overconfidence, I thought I got him where I wanted but at that point it all turned around... I feel like such a loser..."

"Don't feel too discouraged."

"Yeah... it's a bit hard when that freak managed to give a clear shot through my chest..."

"It was just an accident," assured Rin.

"Accident, how could you say it was that?"

"It was, ni-san. These things happen."

"But I had to use the Metamorphosis..."

"We all know the Death Knight legacy, Naruto," said Anko as encouraging as she could. Deep down, she feared the Death Knights for she knew they were extremely powerful. But most importantly, they were unpredictable. She didn't fear this specific one, she was worried in a sense. "In your case, I believe it was a situation where you don't you'll die. Just don't blame yourself so much... you did what you have to do."

"I try hard to... but I still can't stop feeling how foolish I was."

"Don't say that," said Haku with a smile. "You have to think more positively."

"Positively?"

"Yeah," added Rin holding Naruto's hand tightly with care. "If that snake freak came here, he must have a purpose. Did he tell you what it was, ni-san?"

"I sort of figured it out," answered Naruto gripping on to his sister's hand. "He was chasing Sasuke's team at that time, my eyes told me that. Jiraiya-sensei also told me about Orochimaru before... he said that he claims other bodies to achieve their power. If I'm correct, he's after Sasuke's Sharingan, that's why they were chasing him."

"So he's after the Uchiha..." mumbled Anko in a low voice. "Damn him, why does he always do things just because he wants to! How could he..."

"Because he sees human beings as mere play things," answered Naruto bluntly. "I know I'm not wrong."

"You're the last Uzumaki, Naruto," said Kakashi seriously. "Did he had any plans on you?"

"He told me about a gift..." At that time Anko's eyes shot wide open. "I never found out what it was but he said that me and Sasuke are worthy to have it. After he gave it to me, he would give to Sasuke. He also said that it's a gift that no one could possibly refuse." At this point Anko snapped.

"That jackass!" she basically screamed in frustration. The three teens were taken aback at her sudden change in attitude. "Who does he think he is, Kami-sama? How could he even think of such a thing like that? Why does he want people to suffer? How many more people must be defiled and corrupted because of him? I feel so powerless not to be able to make a difference!"

"Anko-san," said Rin holding her gently. "Calm down, it's okay... Naruto-ni-san is okay..."

"It's not that..."

"It's what then?" asked Haku. "Is there something that we should know?"

"You seem to know very well as to what this gift is, Anko," said Kakashi.

"This would be a good time to tell us what it is," suggested Naruto. "I'm curious myself."

"This gift of his is no gift, it's a curse..." explained Anko seriously. "It's a curse seal and it's nothing at all to be proud of. I will tell you, it's something horrible..."

**_(Time passes once again)_**

"I see..." said Haku. "This seal does grant you power but the cost behind it is too high. Not only that, it will tempt you to achieve more power and eventually you would be attracted to the person who gave it to you and serve them willingly. Power... what would humanity do to achieve this... how low would they sink?"

"I don't intend to find out," answered Rin blindly. "If the curse seal is something that Orochimaru wanted to give to Sasuke-san and ni-san, I'm sure he'll try again."

"You can count on that," said Naruto. "I'm more than willing to see that bastard dead."

"Don't get too hasty here," said Rin. "Ni-san, I believe there is much to fear..."

"Really, that bastard is no longer here."

"A much greater danger may arise right now."

"How's that possible?" asked Kakashi curiously.

"Sure, no problem I will tell you how."

"Go on," advised Anko as she gave a hand gesture.

"Since trying to get Sasuke-san and Naruto-ni-san isn't a simple task at all, I'm sure Orochimaru knew that before the entire operation started. Even so, I'm sure that he does have help with him. In a war, no one could fight it alone despite how powerful or skilled you are."

"You saying that his allies and henchmen may be hidden in this exam?" asked Kakashi. Rin slowly nodded seriously.

"I'm sure those Sound-nins Hinata-chan told us about must be part of them," added Haku biting his lip lightly. "I can't think of any other possibilities at the moment."

"I got a suspicious character that may involve in this list as well," said Naruto as he crossed his arms. "However, I don't want to assume anything yet until I have some ideas."

"Who may that be?" asked Anko.

"Yakushi Kabuto. I have no right to check his records but Anko, I suggest you take a close observation of him. I got a feeling he ain't what he says he is. Never trust his first words, look under it carefully."

"You seem to hate this person, Naruto," said the special jounin amused.

"Hate him?" the boy returned the question. "It's the fact he knows more than he should."

"What matters could that be?"

"You're in no position to know what they are. But either does he, he'll suffer for that mistake." The Death Knight then flashed a stare in front avoiding all other's eyes since he knew they would jump a bit after. "Anyway, I think we should watch our actions more wisely from now on and pay more attention to the things around us."

"Agreed," said Haku. "Be really on alert."

"Should we tell Hinata-san and the others about this?" asked Rin. Kakashi simply smiled underneath his mask.

"I'm sure they'll do it naturally," assured the masked jounin. "Hinata and Sakura are really becoming like Naruto in some ways. They've been cautious around a lot of things. Hinata no longer is the shy and timid girl all the time. She is more open and blushes less, not to mention less stuttering. Sakura is becoming more confident about her training than the first time I met her. Naruto really did miracles with them."

"Thanks for appreciating my brother so much, Kakashi-kun," said Rin honestly with a slight bow. "I really want to thank you."

"No need for thanks, Rin, Naruto deserve all of this."

"You two," called Naruto as he jumped off the bed to the table that had all his clothes and weapon. "I need to get dressed. Staying on that bed for too long isn't too great for my body."

"I suppose the meeting is over now?" asked Anko knowingly with a grin. The nods from the other 4 gave her the response she needed. "Okay, just be alert on everything you do. Especially you, Naruto." The Death Knight simply grinned and waved the rest to the door leaving him with some privacy.

**_(Some time later after the demon boy gets dressed)_**

Within a several minutes, Naruto was already all dressed and bandaged up his right hand and arm like his always did. He quickly made his bed as a good habit he always had and attracted Nightshadow to his left hand using his demonic chakra. As he equipped his blade to his left thigh, he grinned darkly and observed his left hand.

'_I'm going to make sure that bastard suffers,' _thought Naruto as he turned the doorknob to make an exit. _'The next time we meet, I'll ensure you won't make it out of here alive.'_

Naruto exited the room with a sigh. As if on cue, his cute girlfriend rushed to his side holding him close as if her life depended on it. She wrapped her arms around his waist and dug her head to his chest nuzzling gently. Naruto smiled at her and began stroking her silky hair, he had to admit that it pained him to see her worried. As he started to rub Hinata's soft back, the Hyuga girl couldn't help to sigh pleasantly in his chest. Her voice was still heavenly divine, he knew he loved her.

"Naruto-kun..." she moaned as she slowly pulled herself away from him.

"What is it?" he asked softly as she motioned him to get closer. It was then he sensed a threatening aura.

"You are such a FOOL!" she screamed as a made a fist preparing to hit his face. However, even though he rested for a several days didn't mean he lost his guard. He simply shifted his body backward in a tilt and avoided her assault cleanly. She winced in anger but the boy already held in a lock from behind. "Let me go!" she ordered while struggling to break free. "You'll get the lesson you deserve for making me so worried!"

"If you wanted to punch me..." he said having trouble to control her unusual rage. He didn't blame her though, he might've reacted the same way if she did something that reckless. "Why didn't you hit me when we were in the room? Why now?"

"There were too many people there!" she retorted angrily still retaliating.

"Weren't you happy that I woke up? Do you want to see me dead?"

"No! But it doesn't mean that you could just disappear on us like that! How would I know what could've happened to you?"

"Are you saying that helping friends is something wrong? If I didn't go, Sasuke wouldn't be here right now! Would you regret that if I didn't help him? I won't allow that to happen!"

"I didn't say that was wrong... you could've told us your intentions!"

"If I told you, you wouldn't let me go at all," said Naruto with certainty. "By the time I notified you guys, Sasuke, Kiba and Shino-kun would already be in danger. I had to act alone, don't you understand?"

"Sasuke-kun told me not to be too angry with you..." she said to him in a calm way no longer struggling. Noticing her softening, he weakened his grip on her. He was surprised as she leaned her head back so it rested comfortably on his shoulder blades. "He said that he had to thank you for saving his life, if it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be seeing daylight right now. Even so, I couldn't help but feel angry towards you for doing something without considering the consequences. You didn't think about what would happen to you, did you?"

"I only thought of that no mystery man could just mess with Konoha's genins. If they wanted to mess with them, they have to get through me to get them."

"Naruto-kun," she moaned pleasantly closing her eyes with a smile. "You're too kind to people."

"What are you saying?"

"You always put others ahead of yourself, you never seem to mind whatever they are. It doesn't matter if they suit your interest or not, you always do your best to help them. This is who you are, Naruto-kun, I don't want you to ever change that kind spirit of yours."

"Hina-chan," he whispered. "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?" she asked holding his hand gently but firm.

"Sorry to worry you, I hope these kinds of issues wouldn't happen too often..."

"Why not say you wouldn't allow it to happen?"

"We're shinobis of Konoha, Hinata-chan," explained Naruto sadly. "There will be times that drastic actions must be taken and orderly fashion will no longer be in any of our vocabularies. However, I promise I'll be very cautious when this happens since I want to come back alive to see that pretty face of yours." He then poked her cheek and she quickly blushed. But she then gave him a slight pout and turned slightly away. "C'mon Hina-chan," he cooed with a hint of pleading. "Forgive me." The boy then shook her gently making her smile again.

"Fine, Naruto-kun," said Hinata turning around controlling a straight face but not too successfully. She then couldn't hold it any longer and gave him a kiss on the lips. The dark shinobi's eyes were filled with suddenness, who would've thought Hinata would act this way when she felt 'pressured'. She claimed it well and showed no hesitation to kiss her lover sweetly. He was unprepared from the start, it was no surprise when he needed to part from her. When he did, she showed disappointment to make him feel guilty for what he did. He couldn't refuse that cute and innocent face, he chuckled quite a bit when she made it even cuter.

"You got to cut that out," he said turning away awkwardly not meeting her gaze.

"Cut what out?" she asked innocently as she leaned closer still with that adorable face of hers.

"That." Naruto stated as he pointed to her.

"You want me to cut THAT out?" she questioned him seductively. It was clear to him that she knew what he was talking about the entire time. As she tenderly gripped his collar, he felt his heart stop. "If you want me to stop so much, why don't you be a good boyfriend and kiss me? I'm a very good negotiator."

"Is that so?" he asked her not letting himself fall to her hidden seductive gaze. "If you're such a good negotiator, why don't you just leave me be?"

"Why you ask? Because I want you to kiss me." She then grinned mischievously. "I know you want to kiss me also." Without a second thought, she leaped at him taking his lips with much passion. She knew she was in control, without much effort she already managed to take him where she wanted him. Hinata then slipped her delicate and sweet tongue to his mouth. She brushed his lips with much feeling, she let out a moan of pleasure during the process while the boy tried hard not to let her know he was enjoying it too much. However, the Hyuga heiress knew the Death Knight was savouring every moment of this. She was determined make him realize how dear he was to her.

Hinata then softly licked his lips making him shiver to the core. She knew how 'ignorant' he could be when he was doing these things. She loved it that way since it meant she was in control. As she pushed herself closer to him, Naruto blushed as he felt her breasts brushing on his chest behind that soft fabric of her tanktop. It was soft, very soft. She then encircled her arms around his firm neck, she couldn't help but run her hands through his hair and pulling his head towards hers deepening the kiss. She moaned louder making him melt.

Unknowingly to Naruto but Hinata was fully aware of what she was planning. During the entire commencement, she skillfully led him back to the room he was at before he met her. He was so lost to her gaze and graceful embrace that he didn't even notice what she was doing. As Hinata tapped the door to close, it was that moment when Naruto realized where he was. At the same time, he noticed he was already too deep within her trap.

'_We have quite a bit to catch up on don't we, Naruto-kun?' _she thought in a both amused and teasing way. The duo then fell on the bed and continued with their session. In reality, it was Hinata who pushed him along with herself. The girl enjoyed this, she didn't find a reason not to. For Naruto, he could really get used to this. Hinata was truly magnificent, he would be a fool not to fall in love with her. At the same time, he no longer felt the need to care about anything else. His hunger, he could have it later, all he wanted was the person in front of his vision. He then deepened the kiss and forgotten about all around him, all he needed was her.

He skilfully departed his lips from her but gave her a small lick before he did so. The Hyuga heiress grinned seductively signalling for more. Naruto smirked and began to work on her gentle neck. As his mouth made contact, the girl gasped unexpectedly. However Naruto didn't mind her stiffening since he went softer immediately. It wasn't long before the Hyuga girl relaxed and let out moans of pleasure. She continued to wail louder with emotions of joy as he reached nearer and nearer to her sensitive spot. She loved this, she snaked her arms around his torso and tugged him closer telling him she thirsted for more. It was then when he reached the spot, she nearly screamed in delight since the feeling was incredibly pleasurable. She let out a whine of delectation, it was audible enough for Naruto to realize how much she was enjoying this. As he released, Hinata immediately held him close wanting this to continue.

"Don't stop, Naruto-kun..." she begged with a divine tone. She then pushed him flat on the bed and laid on top of him observing her lover admiringly.

"You liked it?" he asked amused knowing the answer.

"I loved it," stated Hinata as she kissed his cheek.

"Looks like I made a mark on your neck... I'm sorry..." She then put a finger to his mouth silencing him kindly.

"Don't be, I want you to love me, okay?" He placed a smile on his face and gave her a nod in understanding.

"Hinata-chan, I love you."

"I love you too, you'll always be my Naruto-kun." She then closed her eyes and enveloped his lips once again. Showing no hesitation, Naruto simply responded to it and enjoyed whatever his girlfriend could give. He wasn't disappointed at all, he loved her.

_**(Some time at night during the same day)**_

"Okay, 21, I win!" shouted Sasuke slamming the three cards on the table victoriously. The others in the game grunted in annoyance other than Gaara, Neji and Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun won again!" cheered Sakura happily hugging her friend.

"That's so not fair!" shouted Lee secretly wanting Sakura to hug him. "This is the third time you won in a row!"

"You think I cheated?" asked Sasuke confidently as he ruffled Sakura's pink hair.

"I'm the one dealing," said Shino.

"You could be helping your team-mate," added Haku a bit ticked but kept a calm face. "How would we know?"

"Don't accuse people like that," interrupted Neji with a smirk. "It could be just beginner's luck." The girls Tenten, Hinata and Sakura then giggled at his words making the Uchiha raise an eyebrow.

"I'll show you that I beat you with skill." declared Sasuke jokingly.

"There's no skill required in this game," said Naruto as he took a sip of water.

"It's all about not making stupid risks that could cost you the round," added Gaara with a smirk. "Looks like some people here even believe that you could rival with luck."

"I'll prove to you that my luck is stronger than Neji's!" exclaimed Lee while Kiba who was sitting beside him rolled his eyes in exhaustion.

"You gotta get less hyped, man," said Kiba motioning Lee to see down.

"Is there a need to rival with one so much?" asked Gaara curiously to Lee. Lee's eyes flashed with energy.

"Of course!" Lee replied as if that was the most correct answer. "Rivals give you the sense to strive for more. Without them, there wouldn't be a reason to reach for a goal." Naruto didn't object that opinion, he thought it made a lot of sense.

"Why isn't Shikamaru or Chouji playing with us?" asked Shino as he shuffled the cards thoroughly.

"They said they were too exhausted after their travels," answered Naruto with a grin. "Looks like they really over did it."

"Hey, you should be glad for them," said Hinata gripping her boyfriend's shoulders with her small hands. "They made it here on the 3rd day after all."

"Hey," called the Uchiha. "What happened to the shirukens that all of you owe me? I need 1 from each you who played."

"No need to rush," said Neji placing the weapon on the table. "I'm sure I'll get 5 more from you later."

"You better win them back, Hyuga Neji," ordered Tenten playfully to his ear. "I don't want to see this weapon pouch of yours absolutely empty later on."

"Don't worry, Tenten," assured the Hyuga. "Beginner's luck could only get anyone so far."

"Fine then, bring it on!" taunted Sasuke as Shino dealed 2 cards to each of them. Sasuke grinned widely immediately. "Black Jack! Take that!"

"DAMN IT!" This time around, all of them cursed out loud slamming or tossing the cards. The girls then burst into laughter.

"This game's rigged!" shouted Gaara. It was very unusual that he raised his voice.

"Look at your face!" taunted the Uchiha proudly. "You know you've been beaten!"

"I declare forfeit," said Naruto showing his cards with a shiruken. "A 16 as a starting hand is really nasty." Sadly enough, Hinata had to agree with him.

"You're bad at this, Hyuga Neji!" scolded Tenten as she shook him gently.

"It isn't my fault if he got a black jack..." muttered Neji in defeat.

"Really Sasuke," said Kiba in joking matter. "You're really taking this to your advantage."

"Of course," answered Sasuke proudly in a silly way.

"I've had enough of this trickery!" said Lee recklessly which was unexpected. "That's it, I challenge you Sasuke-kun, to a duel!"

"Isn't that going a bit too far?" asked Haku in exasperation. "It's just a game, Lee-san,"

"To me, Sasuke-kun is impressing Sakura-san too much! I have to impress her back! As a man, that's what I should be doing."

"I don't think you would be impressing anybody if you did that," said Kiba. "I want to impress Hinata too but like no matter what I do I can't win her heart. Hey, at least I could be her friend and not let our friendship go to waste. C'mon Lee, Sasuke was just lucky today."

"I need to get some rage out," countered Lee. "Sasuke-kun, my offer still stands."

"Just cut it out, Lee..." muttered Neji.

"You really look foolish for doing that," added Tenten.

"There's no need for you do that, Lee-san," said Sakura.

"Don't talk me out of this, Sakura-san," demanded Lee seriously.

"I'll gladly accept," said the Uchiha. "When I beat you, you'll truly know who's really powerless."

"I doubt that you'll have that much of an easy time," said Naruto as he finished his cup of water. "I have no intention of telling you how Lee-san fights but at least be prepared for it." Sasuke simply smirked.

"Don't worry, I'm very prepared."

**_(A short period of time later)_**

They went to an arena nearby shortly after, Naruto was amazed at this place. Lee and Sasuke stood down in the center as the other genins sat under the ledge of the large statue with the hand seal to observe. Naruto wondered how much stronger Sasuke had become, he could sense his chakra level increase immensely. Hinata sat next to him observing both the match and Naruto's expression. She knew how Lee fought, even she couldn't have beat him. The green beast of Konoha was not someone that should be underestimated, if her improved self couldn't take him down, she didn't know what would. Hopefully, Sasuke's new strength could do the job.

"Sasuke-kun, don't lose to him!" cheered Sakura in a really supportive way. "Do your best!" The Uchiha grinned knowing he had support by Sakura. That alone was all he needed to get stronger.

"I wonder who's going to prevail in victory," said Naruto as he crossed his arms.

"I don't know," answered Hinata as she leaned her head to his shoulder resting peacefully. "I just hope Sasuke-kun would win." Naruto nodded too and averted his full attention to the arena. Both fighters stood in a stance of their own and eyed each other coldly. The tension was building each passing second until Lee couldn't hold it anymore.

The Konoha green beast dashed at the Uchiha with high speed adding a gliding leap. Sasuke grimaced at his opponent's speed, he was definitely quick. Lee then gave a forward kick aimed at the gut but the raven hair boy blocked the assault with ease. However, with a small thrust Lee was already on the ground in a gymnast style making a spinning trip. When Lee saw his opponent was going to block, he quickly made a hand seal but not forming an actual jutsu. Noticing the seal, Sasuke became alerted and loosened his guard. At this moment, Lee gave a clean trip and a forceful kick to the face sending the Uchiha back a several feet.

"What happened..." whimpered Sasuke as he rubbed his face with irritation.

"Keep going Sasuke-kun!" cheered Sakura. "Do your best!"

"This is like when he was fighting me..." whispered Hinata paying very close attention to this.

"Not really," said Naruto. "Sasuke's being too careless, he can't afford these mistakes. This time, Lee is using a slightly different style. What a tough rival..."

"Is Lee-san that strong?"

"Certainly looks like it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and watched Lee with most alert, he knew he couldn't afford any more errors in his judgement. He needed to test Lee's abilities but he couldn't do it pathetically. He then stood in a preferred stance and signalled Lee to come. The thickbrow genin grinned and to show his gratitude, he charged toward to his enemy directly.

"Konoha Senpuu!" shouted Lee as he performed one of his trademark techniques. Sasuke lowered his head to dodge but just barely. As Sasuke performed an uppercut from below, Lee simply shifted his body to avoid the incoming punch. Seeing an opening in the Uchiha's move, the Konoha green beast quickly jabbed Sasuke in the chest and gave a heavy snap kick to the chin. Sakura was stunned, first Hinata couldn't beat him and now her admirer couldn't even make a decent attack on him. Neji smirked, he was impressed how much Lee had improved, he wondered if he was strong enough to take down the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Sakura worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." replied Sasuke weakly as he shook off the pain. _'What kind of chakra is he even using? He seems to be utilizing it to increase his speed... no matter, I'll check it for myself.' _He then generated chakra to his eyes for his next assault. _'Sharingan!'_

"He's using that already?" asked Kiba as he petted Akamaru on the head.

"He must be feeling pressured." Shino added with a small hint of amusement.

"No matter what you're doing, I'll reveal it!" declared Sasuke as his eyes already captured Lee.

'_So that's the Sharingan, what an honour for me to witness this,'_ thought Lee. _'But your little bloodline limit isn't going to serve you that well, Sasuke-kun.' _Sasuke then recklessly dashed to Lee with high agility.

"Here he comes..." mumbled the Uchiha as Lee dashed to him. This time around as Lee attacked, Sasuke countered and defended accordingly. It was fist for fist, knee for knee and finally kick to kick. Sasuke wasn't copying his opponent's moves, he could see them in a slower motion. As Lee performed the Konoha Senpuu, Sasuke shifted his head back to allow the kick to whiz by his face like a breeze. Lee gritted his teeth in anger but soon decided to make a multiple hit combo. His punches and kicks came in volleys which the Uchiha had problems in both avoiding and guarding. As soon as Sasuke defended a kick aimed at his leg, a punch would hit him effectively on the shoulder.

"I got you!" shouted Lee as he gave an upward kick. However, Sasuke simply jumped back avoiding the hit completely while forming a set of hand seals. Naruto noticed that seal immediately.

"Dragon Fire-no-jutsu!" declared Sasuke as he breathed out extremely fierce flames from his mouth. Lee's eyes widened in fear as he could sense the powerful rage behind it, it was as if Sasuke wanted to take his opponent down with everyone in it. Naruto narrowed his eyes as the chakra filled cone was directed to kill.

'_What in the heck is he trying to do?'_ thought the Death Knight as he took precautions.

'_That attack consumes a considerate amount of chakra to perform...'_ thought Hinata eyeing the jutsu carefully. _'Did Sasuke-kun lost it?' _Lee jumped high immediately to avoid knowing what kind of deadly damage it could inflict.

"What in the hell are you doing?" shouted Lee as landed safely. "Were you trying to kill me? That technique can't be just used so carefree like!"

"I'll do whatever it takes to beat you!" retorted the Uchiha as if he was completely correct.

"With no heed to the cost?" questioned Neji angrily.

"What in the hell do you think you were doing?" asked Lee flashing a glare.

"Trying to defeat you," growled Sasuke. _'I got all the moves I needed from you, I have really improved on my Sharingan recently, there's no need for me to continue this.' (_AN: The Sharingan is like the anime, it can't copy the taijutsu like how Lee said in the anime but Sasuke could copy his style and all but he has to make sure he has the speed and skill within his own body to perform it.) "I have enough of your taijutsu games, Rock Lee, it's time for us to end this!" Sasuke then stood in an assault pose and chakra began to generate from his hand. (AN: THIS IS NOT THE CHIDORI! However, this is still powerfully deadly regardless.) "This attack could beat you already! Thunder Pact no jutsu!"

"A palm pact type of technique?" questioned Lee as his opponent began to take charge. _'All I need to do is to be fast enough to avoid his palm and get behind him to perform the Lotus! I'll get him for certain!'_ Once the charge was complete, the Uchiha with a fully powered hand engaged his opponent with maximum intent to kill. Lee loosened a short length of his bandage and mustered all the strength in his body for an incredible agility thrust.

"This is getting out of hand!" said Neji sensing the chakra and killing intent.

"What I find meaningless is for a girl..." muttered Gaara dully.

"Girl or not, this is just pointless!" stated Naruto as he leaped off from his spot with Hinata trying to stop him but with no avail. As the two shinobis in combat were several feet from another, Naruto suddenly appeared right in between the two and gripped their wrists tightly. Sensing a sharp pain, Sasuke reluctantly released all the chakra he had in his hand and Lee soon relaxed knowing his assault was halted.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" questioned Sasuke angrily shaking the Death Knight's hand off his. "I don't need you to step in everything I do!"

"This kind of fighting is unnecessary!" countered Naruto releasing Lee's arm as well.

"This was supposed to be a friendly spar," said Tenten not too pleased. "How on earth did you two make it into a one on one death match?"

"It was getting nothing close to it..." argued Lee silently.

"Yeah right!" shouted the female weapon master silencing him. "I can tell you were using THAT move, how dare you say the fight wasn't getting serious?" Lee looked away with a annoyed face, it was unusual to see him so much more less energetic.

"Sasuke-kun..." whispered Sakura shyly.

"What?" he asked with a slight bit of shame.

"You don't need to prove yourself to me... you know I wouldn't think of you any differently."

"No... I was just too overconfident... I'm sorry if my emotions took the better of me..."

"It's okay," she assured patting him on the shoulder and holding his hand gently. "Just don't pick fights like that with our friends like that again, okay? We're Konoha genins, these are the only friends we've got here." Sasuke agreed with a nod while Naruto smiled inwardly and walked away from the two. He knew the duo needed their time alone, they were getting closer each passing day. Suddenly he could feel his hand being held, he sighed knowing exactly who it was.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" he asked looking at her pretty face.

"Are you hurt?" asked Hinata observing his face and body. "You just dashed in there like that so recklessly..."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he assured poking her forehead. "You can worry so much sometimes."

"That's because I care," she justified proudly that made him laugh softly. She looked at him with a pouting expression. "I worry because you are always so negligent and unpredictable."

"A good shinobi is a cunning and delinquent one," Naruto stated making his point in a playful argument. "I can't help it if that's my nature now can I?"

"Just be careful for my sake, please?" Knowing the girl was serious with her eyes alone, Naruto simply nodded and held her close. Hinata softened at his touch and embraced him back firmly. _'I'm just glad I've put an end to that meaningless battle,'_ thought Naruto relieved. _'Why did I allow it to begin with from the start?' _Hinata noticed the expression on his face, she watched him with gave an assuring and understanding smile. It wasn't long before the boy figured he had nothing to worry about. He had to appreciate and love Hinata for who she was.

_**(Days after Team 7 arrived at the tower)**_

It was soon the 5th day of the exam, Team 7 certainly didn't like the current events that were happening so far. On the early afternoon of the 4th day, the Sound team made it to the tower with both scrolls. Naruto wanted to kill them as soon as he saw those bloody bastards enter the tower but Hinata and Sakura miraculously managed to stop him. Deep down, Hinata and Sakura wanted those three dead, but now wasn't the time to take such action. However, they would make sure the Sound would have the best time Konoha could offer, they bet it would be sweet.

The late morning of the 5th day, Kabuto's platoon arrived. Right from the start, Naruto was suspicious of his arrival time. As he activated his eyes, he could detect the chakra within Kabuto was almost full and yet he took this long to arrive. This was the chunnin exam, no one would dare to take their sweet time out there with predators lurking about. It didn't take a genius to figure out the pressured circumstances of the second exam. First of all, ambush near the tower since that's where most of the teams would gather due to the limited time remaining. Secondly, the need of getting rid of strong teams. Thirdly, have shinobis of the same village as allies to aid you on tasks your team may not be able to handle alone.

Everything that Kabuto did made Naruto more alert and suspicious. His chakra, the true intentions for those nin-info cards, the reason why he took that long in the exam, nothing seemed to be right. He couldn't grasp what it was that annoyed him, the aura around told him enough to be on high vigilant_. 'I'll make sure that fateless coward would never see daylight anytime soon,'_ thought the Death Knight to himself as he made his way back to his team who were preparing breakfast for him._ 'I'll be watching you...' _As Naruto made his way to the cafeteria, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata were already waiting for him.

"What's with that cold look, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura as she took a slurp of ramen.

"What happened to that smile you should have every morning?" asked Hinata with amusement. "Don't tell me you woke up at the wrong side of the bed this morning. Didn't you like me hugging you the entire time?" Sasuke laughed inwardly at her words, he found it very engaging. Naruto shook his head slowly.

"Then what's wrong then?" asked Sasuke as he motioned the Death Knight to sit down. Naruto slowly sat down as Hinata shifted his meal in front of him.

"Yakushi Kabuto's team made it here just moments ago," replied Naruto as he took his glass of milk and drank it all down. Everyone's faces darkened. "You see a problem to this?"

"He sure loved to take his time," said Sakura with a hint of scepticism.

"I wonder what his reason was..." mumbled the Uchiha while in thought filled with distrust.

"Maybe he ran into a strong enemy..." suggested Hinata. That alone made the other three stare at her giving the 'What in the hell are you thinking?' message. She quickly closed her mouth knowing she said something stupid and looked at her food nervously as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," comforted Naruto. "Just be really careful on these grounds while he's here. And remember, it's not only him that we need to watch out for. There's that Orochimaru..."

"Don't worry, we'll be attentive," said Sasuke with a guarantee.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Sakura. "No one messes with my ni-chan and my Sasuke-kun without a fight!" Sasuke blushed slightly hearing the words her Sasuke-kun. He really liked her, hearing those words from her sounded so right. The four genins then silently finished their meals and waited until more news was given to them.

_**(During the same day on the current afternoon)**_

That same afternoon soon after 3PM, all the genins who passed who gathered down at the center of the arena. Naruto was surprised out of the 26 teams that passed the first test, 7 of them remained. That was a lot less than he expected. All the jounins were assembled along with the Hokage. Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, a jounin from the Sand with half his face hidden behind some cloth, a pale skinned Sound instructor and a jounin from the Leaf who seemed very sick. The rookie 9 all gathered here in one piece, this was definitely unexpected. Naruto eyed the Sound jounin carefully, something about him was amiss. He never met him before but anyone who was associated with the Sound could be considered an enemy.

Hinata watched Naruto from behind, she could feel him tense up like how he usually did in preparations before an actual combat. She wondered what could've made him be so cautious all of a sudden. The Hyuga heiress decided to wait until the show began, assumptions now could lead to mistakes. She then decided to go on full attentiveness just in case something did happen. The aura in this arena didn't feel welcoming at all.

The Hokage soon stepped up and gave all the passing genins a lame and dull speech about the heritage of the chunnin exam. Naruto paid no attention to that old man, he had more valued things to observe. First of all, his eyes never left that Sound instructor. Something about that grin of his seemed all too familiar. It felt it was someone's custom of things. Since he was meditating earlier, he already had his blindfold on. At that instant, he activated his Unholy Sight and the usual effects of the pupils turning completely teal were engaged. He examined the chakra levels immediately. As soon as Naruto could read them, he smirked went wide and dark. He deactivated his eyes slowly and gripped on to his blade ready to attack at any second. _'He sure has a lot of guts showing his face here,' _thought Naruto with a bitter grin. _'He really doesn't value his life... not like I really care.'_ Not knowing how much time had passed, the pale looking jounin stepped up to explain the next set of instructions.

"Good afternoon all genins... cough... I'm glad that all of you have passed this second part of the exam... I'm your next instructor, Gekkou Hayate." Hayate then gave a series of coughs which confused most of the genins.

"Are you okay, sensei?" asked Ino concerned.

"Don't worry... a few pills should do the job fine..." ensured the jounin not in the most promising voice. Naruto and Hinata really questioned his health conditions. "As I was saying... cough... for all who believed that this was the third test of the chunnin exam, I'll be honest and straight to the point. This isn't the test you all think it is..."

"It's not?" asked Tenten.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Kiba with curiosity.

"These questions will be answered in moments..." said Hayate still coughing. "I'll explain... for the first time in 5 years, there will be a set of preliminaries that needs to take place."

"Why do we need to do that?" demanded Neji not very pleased.

"We all passed this thing fairly, didn't we?" added Sasuke.

"I know you all did," replied Hayate. "But the problem that lies right now is the fact there are still too participants." All the genins narrowed their eyes questionably. "I don't know how this happened, maybe the first two tests were too simple, I don't intend to find out. Due to chunnin selection exam regulations, we need to limit our numbers. The purpose to this preliminary to determine which one of you guys would be worthy enough to pass to the final round. It would be a one on one situation and your opponent would be a random selection. The names would be displayed on the board behind me and like mentioned before... it would be random..." He then coughed lightly and eyed every genin with his bagged eyes.

"Now," continued Hayate weakly. "Either participant has the right to forfeit before the match or during the match. Killing your opponents again isn't something to be tolerated by me or the other jounins. I have the right to disqualify you immediately without hesitancy. One final note, the preliminaries will begin immediately."

"What?" Nearly all the genins asked loudly.

"Why do we have to do something that troublesome anyway?" asked Shikamaru in a bored tone.

"Can't we do it later?" begged Chouji.

"What's the meaning of this?" questioned Gaara coldly.

"During the final test, Hokage-sama and other judges will be judging all of you to see whether you have what it takes to be a chunnin. These things do take time and we simply can't have a lot of matches. We must limit it for the sake of time."

"That seems quite unfair..." said Lee.

"No one said life was fair. Now, whoever isn't up to this or not feeling well, cough, please tell me now. But remember... cough, you will lose the right to take part it... cough, cough..."

'_The person who seems to be not well is you, sensei...'_ thought Hinata worriedly.

"What's with him?" asked Naruto to Sakura who was in front of him.

"He looks kind of sick don't you think?" Sakura returned the question with a grin.

"That's an understatement..."

"I give up," said a voice. Naruto and Sasuke flared up a stare to whoever just spoke up. It was none other than Kabuto. "I said that I give up."

"Repeat what you just said," ordered Sasuke coldly.

"What's so surprising about me forfeiting?"

"We'll tell you what your problem is, Kabuto," spat Naruto in a bitter voice.

"It's because I'm not up to it..." replied the 4-year veteran. "I don't think I could do this."

"What are you talking about?" questioned Sasuke with doubt.

"Why can't you?" asked Naruto with authority. "You seemed to be quite happy to quit, what's up with that? Isn't it also strange that you still a lot of chakra left in your body? What are you hiding? I don't see your teammates giving in." _'Not like they are trustworthy either...'_

"This is a life and death situation," justified Kabuto. "I just finished the second test, I know my body doesn't have the energy and willpower to continue this. It's too risky for me personally, so please don't blame me for giving up at this stage."

"Is that your final answer?" asked Sasuke who eyed Naruto who gave him a nod. "You'll regret for lying to us, pitiful fool." It was then when Sasuke and Naruto leaped high into the air forming hand seals.

"What are you doing?" shouted Kabuto on high alert.

"Dragon Fire-no-jutsu!" exclaimed Sasuke executing his killer technique blasting down from above.

"Mana Burn!" stated Naruto as he released a powerful beam of negative energy. Kabuto pivoted quickly to sidestep dodging the attack barely. Even so, the older genin performed the maneuver too swiftly.

"Looks like he still has plenty enough strength to dodge our attacks," said Sasuke flashing a glare with his Sharingan shining with rage. "Your eyes never lie do they, Naruto?" Kabuto narrowed his eyes and stared at the duo confusedly, he demanded for an explanation.

"This fateless coward thought that I couldn't sense his chakra, as if I'm that stupid to fall for his words," said Naruto withdrawing his blade from his sheath. "I know you're perfectly fine, Kabuto, you're a fool to think that you can trick me. As for that Sound jounin behind me," Hinata and Sakura quickly glared at the mystery instructor with a pale face. "You think you can hide your true identity from me? Your chakra signature is too unique, Orochimaru." The jounins on the stand gasped and leaped a several feet away completely in combat mode. Kakashi revealed his Sharingan and glared at the Sound-nin, he didn't understand why he didn't even realize this.

"So is that the guy who was after me?" asked the Uchiha in a fighting pose. Naruto nodded as he turned around pointing his blade to Orochimaru. As Kabuto wanted to make a sneak attack, Hinata, Neji, Lee and Sakura landed by Sasuke halting Kabuto instantly.

"Now, it's 2 of you against all of us," announced Hinata taking a taijutsu stance with the others.

"We won't let you have your way that easily," added Sakura.

"Seems like a tough fight," said Lee to his teammates.

"I can hardly wait," replied Neji with much hidden excitement. Gaara smirked and went on with the flow, he had to agree he liked this idea. The others other than Kabuto's teammates readied themselves cautiously.

"Let's kill these bastards," declared Naruto in a deadly tone charging his weapon with deadly green chakra that was visible. It was then when he engaged his teal eyes radiating sharply. "Let none survive." The genins smirked and prepared themselves for a hell of a fight. These events just kept coming, the opportunities were limitless.

**AN: Finally done, a hell of a long chapter once again by me, OpposingForce! Hope you all liked it, I know you have questions for me so I will list them right now. I don't want a list of questions that I couldn't give a decent direct answers to later on. Here goes!**

**_1Q: Wasn't the Sand supposed to follow the Sound in the Konoha Invasion?_**

_1A: Let's just say that Gaara doesn't have too much love for the Sand, he may do things to twist things around. I don't want to spoil too much for you guys, so just keep on reading._

_**2Q: Is Naruto too smart for his age?**_

_2A: Well, I love this type of OOC, he's like the kind of person I always wanted to be in real life. In reality, I am quite negative and conservative, I suppose I could refer myself to him in some ways._

_**3Q: Did I get Metamorphosis from a game?**_

_3A: Those who know the Demon Hunter Illidan in WC3, I got the wings from him. The others I basically made it up but I knew it wasn't the most original. Hope you all were satisfied._

_**4Q: How did Naruto manage to fly through the forests with his wide wings?**_

_4A: He didn't. They were fighting in the same open area in the anime and all he did was excel high above to the sky and the trees. Even if he did glided to the forests, he would be skillful enough not to crash or whatnot._

**_5Q: Do I use words too 'loosely'?_**

_5A: I may and I will admit my mistakes and flaws. Hey, glad someone mentioned it to me, I'm glad it's from a good friend in real life. THANKS, I'll watch out for that!_

_**6Q: Did I make the Metamorphosis process too cheesy?**_

_6A: I thought it was really cheesy! Those who said so, I didn't even take it as a flame, I took it as honesty and you people are the ones who have enough sincerity to say it in my face. Hey, I had no point in making things look good when they weren't. I'm glad that at least I made it believable._

**_7Q: Why didn't I make Naruto into a loudmouth?_**

_7A: I encountered a similar situation before. I'll say this, there are times that could be funny in the real anime but this Death Knight couldn't bare that kind of personality. Personally, I would love an angsty Naruto, which I see a lot now in the manga. There are too many situations in this story of mine that a loudmouth attitude person would look really awkward. The last thing I need is to make my story to sound uncoordinated._

_**8Q: How did Haku know about the curse seal?**_

_8A: He didn't, I just cut out all the explanations that Anko explained to them. That's what the scene change line was for._

**I hope that answered some questions. To make this thing simple, the next update should be 5 to 7 days since I need to prepare for school that's in the next 14 days. I hope to finish this part 1 of Downfall of the Light before summer. The second part would consist of the 2nd part of the exam and the rest of the rising action of the attempt of the Sound. When school starts, updates would be drastically slower, don't be too surprised if I take a month to upload the next newest chapter. I have Grade 12 to keep me busy from typing. I hope I survive. I'll remember the words I heard from HalfLife Opposing Force. "A dead marine is a worthless marine!" You know what, here's a bonus to all Opposing Force fans out there, Dream Walker, this is my free gift to you!**

Set a link to this at the Run menu.

**C:SIERRAHalf-Lifehl.exe -game gearbox -console**

1. Make sure the opening page has Console on top of New Game

2. Select difficulty of any kind. (I pick difficult, I love the challenge)

3. To make sure that you can cheat, click on that button next to the 1 and above the tab

4. Something should slide down from above pausing the game.

5. To cheat, type in svcheats 1

6. It should say svcheats has changed to "1"

7. At this point, you could cheat. Now I'll explain how to do it.

**For map change.**

Type in map c(any number)a(any number) These are original HalfLife maps ex. map c1a0

Type in map of(any number)a(any number) These are Opposing Force maps ex. map of2a5.

**Modifying unit health and weapons.**

Type sk and then press tab to look for whatever you're looking for. Ex. skhgrunt (This is for the annoying enemy human soldiers), when you press tab, you should see the selection of health1, then health2 and health3. They should have 80 to begin with on Hard.

To modify, make sure it becomes **skhgrunt health3 **(whatever number you want.) I stick them at 150 to 200 just for the sake of resistance, these guys are very annoying! Press enter to notify change, then change map and changes would be made.

For friendly soldiers, it's **skhgruntally**, **skhgruntmedic **or **medically **(You could modify their healing supplies) and **skhgrunttorch **or **torchally**. (These are engineers)

To look for more, just type in sk and tab until you found whatever you need. If you know the user name, type it in there to find it directly.

**How to spawn?**

Type give monster (whatever the name of the monster it is.) Ex. give monsterhumangruntally

Friendly spawned soldiers do not have a rifle, they'll give you one when they get killed. So they only kick! Talk about stupid!

(You can't spawn something if the actual entity does not exist in the map! If you do, the game would crash)

Spawn from a higher above the ground for they land underneath you, Use noclip all the time for this. Not all areas could be used for spawning, so pick flat areas.

**How do you find out the target names for each unit?**

Using the cheat thing screen with the button above the tab, type **developer 1**

To see the info on the top left hand corner, type in **impulse 103** at the target you're looking at.

To disable this noticing everything, type **developer 0**

**Are there specific cheats I could use?**

There are and here are some of them

**impulse 101** Get your PCV and a set of every weapon. Type it a several times to get full ammo.

**impulse 76** create an enemy soldier a few steps in front of you. You use this to make maps with enemies. This does not get affected by the entity thing. At first, it wouldn't work. Then type in map whatever like map c1a0 and type it again. Then it should work.

**god** God mode, duh!

**notarget** enemies ignore you but hears you walking or running and shooting.

**noclip** allows you to clip through walls

**impulse 103** sees stats of your target, you need to be looking at him though.

**impulse 203** removes entity from the map completely

**How do I make specific keys into a certain cheat?**

To find out, type bind and (with space)(whatever key). Some keys are not bound and some are. It's your choice in whether you want to delete certain functions. Ex. bind l "impulse 76", then type enter to confirm.

**How do I create weapons?**

Type in **give weapon**(Whatever weapon you want. When you scan weapons using **skplr**, you'll know the names. Some of them like 357, 762 and 556 are ammo) Ex. give weaponshotgun

If you want ammo, use **give ammobuckshot**. These are shotgun shells. Use some logic in weapons, they aren't that hard. Ask me if you don't know!

**How did I make that map in Friendly Fire?**

I'll tell you online or personally.

**AN: There are underscores within all the cheats. This website won't allow me to show it. Ask me directly by mail for the most accurate information. This site is really ticking me off!**


	18. Execute the Extermination

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Chapter 18: Execute the Extermination_

Disclaimer: For the last 18 chapters... screw this 'I don't own nothing' crap, you and I both know I own nothing! If I did, my school would be the first thing to be burned to the ground with either grenades, rifles, shotguns and whatnot. I'll make sure it suffers the fate it solely deserves! Yes, I HATE SCHOOL!!!

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scenario Changes are written in the bolded italics

**AN: HELLO everybody, I'm back and ready for anything! This is the author OpposingForce reporting in! Okay, this update was sooner than the last one, I am so glad that I completed it! School is gonna start early next week for me so I only have enough time to complete one more chapter before school begins. To those who believe that this was the final chapter of this series of mine, I'll ensure you that it isn't. I hope all of you had a good summer wherever you are, I hope that you all had fun. To those readers who are from Canada, cherish these remaining days while you can! I'm so not looking forward to school, it's a living hell! This soldier won't give up on fan fiction and especially not on ANIME! Thank you to some of you who actually gave suggestions to the second volume, I want to specially thank YSTL, Daveboo 1378, Dream Walker and One Azn Dragon who found me online! Now for the Reviewers' Period!**

_Reviewers' Period: (It gets longer everytime...)_

_Dream Walker: No words needs to be said, you're the best guy I could rely on on this website! I hope to see your next chapter soon. If you don't write it, you'll have me to deal with! LOL!_

_YSTL: I don't remember what you said before but I had a really cool time chatting with you! I hope you love this chapter! Thanks for being a consistent reader!_

_DaveBoo 1378: Your words were helpful, you were the only person in tact amongst the 4 I asked. My thanks to you man, you earned it! I hope you like this chapter! I thank you for being a continuous supporter._

_One Azn Dragon: No worries if you didn't review, the conversations we had were enough for me to thank you. I hope you enjoy this humble work of mine. Peace._

_Rurikat: Thanks for liking my story that much! Sorry to keep you waiting for all this time, I hope this time was a little quicker for you. Is 10 days too long for me? Yeah, it has to be._

_Otakuus: Still thirst for blood, like how I thirst for fan fiction huh? I hope you're not looking for my blood and if you are... man, how do I get out of a female vampuric gaze... uh, hope you like this! (Runs away hoping that you won't find me alive. Does it matter if I die or not? You could take my blood nonetheless)_

_sephynarutocloud: You are really a 'person who wants to see a cute girl revealing herself a bit too much', you like it even more than me. I thought a girl revealing enough her cleavage was enough but man. Anyway, I don't blame you and I have no idea yet. If my fic goes to Rated R (which could be the sequel, not this), you can expect these scenes that you hungrily desire. Hope you like this chapter my friend._

_stoictimer: I didn't get the sickness from the lack of sleep, the place I worked had this flu going around and amongst the 5 people out of 70, I was one of them. Yep, real sad. Hope you would like this chapter of mine, it took a long while._

_Wolfgirl 13: Everything is messed up beyond recognition, if I didn't make it like that it wouldn't be that interesting now would it? Thanks for liking those two sentences, i made it up rather quickly while I was writing. Glad to please someone. Thanks for being a loyal reader!_

_Daniel of Lorien: Wanna know if there are preliminaries? Read this to find out! Hope you like it!_

_HinatasBiggestFanboy: Thanks for loving my work, I think it's paying off in some ways. Thanks for reading!_

_!!!!: Wow, the strangest name I've seen so far... please see the chapter yourself for your unanswered questions. Looks like my job is done. Hope you like it man!_

_My friend from church: I found the errors, I understand why now since this site messes up not only the word count but my original scene change things as well. Curse this... anyway, hope you wouldn't find this too mushy._

_Wormkaizer: Thanks for liking my NaruHina make out session... I can't believe at times they are doing this at the age of nearly 13. But who says anime is realistic at times, there's gotta be some twists to it! I heard you're going to college, best of luck for a successful year! Thanks for reading,_

_Crutches: I found them and fixed them and revised them! Thanks for being a constant reader!_

_joekool: Soldier, I know how you feel. I hope this was quick enough for you, read more to find out the details. Telling you the plot now would be pointless, right?_

_iluvsasuke: You think the first chap is nice? You should read more then my friend. I read your fic in the past, not bad at all, it was defintiely creative. I had a bit of difficulty reading though, not like it mattered that much._

_Place-your-name-here: I don't know how I do it either, just be a good pal and enjoy this chapter, okay? I thank you so much for being a loyal reader!_

_Night-Owl123: I hope you would like this chapter, it was a drag writing it. Doesn't mean it wasn't fun though, I hope you would like this!_

_nonengel: My fight scenes are okay, nothing like Kaarafear's though. Compared to him, I'm more of an apprentice. I like this Naruto a lot, he's so dark and mysterious. I sure had fun making him into what he is now. Hope you like this chapter!_

_Songbird21: What have I been smoking you ask? Let me see here... nothing other than the fact I drink a glass of milk every morning and think of negative thoughts so I could write something angsty. Or you could follow the 5 step injecting needle method to help you relax. LOL! Just enjoy my story, my... lady..._

_Kushi Hanazawa: You like SasuSaku, fine you got it!_

_yourbonesakin: Long review, thank you so much! Your words would be heard but may not be exactly met since Naruto lost a bit of his character as a fox. Mentioned in the first chapter, his whisker marks have fainted out quite a bit and his attitude isn't foxy. Well, I'll listen to your words nonetheless, thanks for saying so though, I appreciate it! Hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_RuByMoOn17: Thanks for saying such kind words, I hope you would take this chapter as a gratitude!_

_clicke: I personally like this idea of revealing the secrets early, it gives so much more suspense into it. Thanks for being such a loyal reader, I hope you like chapter 18!_

_anonymous: That would be hard, school is nearly here! I hope I could update at least once in 2 weeks, that would be as fast as I could go. Hope you like this chapter!_

_Gato-san: Do you know why it stopped before? Because I am evil! HAHAHAHA! With a new chapter here, you can't complain now could you? Hope you like it!_

_MegamanZero: Too godly you say? Thanks for all the nice things you said to appreciate my work, you are a respectable guy to meet. Trust me, this guy ain't godly, read this chapter and find out for yourself. Thanks for appreciating my work, hope you like this chapter if you're reading!_

_Gopu: As always, your simple words is always appreciated._

**AN: Time for the fun to begin...**

"What in the hell was that?" asked Haku as he felt a major disturbance in the air. "Did you feel that, Rin?"

"Yeah, I did," replied the female archer narrowing her eyes. "I felt a huge source of chakra being released..."

"I think it came from the arena's direction," said Haku heading towards the door making a small sprint. "I am checking it out!"

"Sempai, wait for me!" called Rin as she took off as well in high agility. The duo didn't waste any time at all to reach their destination. They knew whatever awaited there wasn't going to be pretty.

**_(Meanwhile in the arena)_**

"Like I said before," declared Naruto smirking nebulously. "Let none survive." Kabuto winced at the Death Knight's words, he personally didn't know what he did to give off so much of himself away. It was like the boy could see everything with his eyes, not only that no one could escape him, their thoughts were all exposed to him like watching through glass. The situation was against his favor, the only allies he had were his teammates and Orochimaru. However, he couldn't reveal his status as a henchmen of the snake sennin, the last thing Orochimaru needed was for the Konoha civilians know he had a skilled undercover.

Kabuto took a quick look at the enemies he had within this room. He noticed he had Tenten, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Cfohouji, Ino, Shino, Kiba, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata to deal with. As he glanced at the Sand trio, his eyes widened in agitation as he saw Gaara preparing himself for combat. Temari and Kankuro seemed to be compromising with him but their success rate wasn't high at all.

"Gaara," said Temari shaking him a bit. "Remember why we're here, we can't take part in this fight!"

"Why can't I?" questioned Gaara not very coldly but amused. His siblings never saw him like this.

"We have our mission to follow," reminded Kankuro sharply. "We aren't obligated to take action until the real deal begins!"

"This attack is too sudden," stated Temari. "We can't let Konoha know we're allied with the Sound. Damn that sword guy, he seems to know everything without anyone telling him a thing!"

"We have to remain neutral," ordered Kankuro. "We must lay low for the time being, we have let the Sound deal with this themselves."

"Listen to your big sister, Gaara. Please don't take part in whatever that may happen, make me a promise."

"I won't do that," stated Gaara with a grin. Temari and Kankuro were taken quite aback.

"What are you saying?" questioned the older Sand male. "Don't start talking crazy now!"

"Crazy?" asked Gaara questioning his brother's logic. "I think not. I'll say this, I don't have that much love for the Sand and its intentions. If the Sand want to invade Konoha so much, don't get me involved in their dirty work. I'm a human being, not a tool for a genocide! If Naruto's village needs help or invaded, I'll help because he's my true friend."

"Friends easy come easy go," said Temari. "We really don't have a choice here!"

"You guys won't be able to change my mind, my decision is final."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Stubborn? Is helping my only friend something wrong? I had enough of your ignorance, don't get in my way!" Temari and Kankuro looked at Baki, their so-called jounin instructor with a worried look. Baki immediately understood what just happened, Gaara refused to go with the plan. _'What are you thinking, Gaara?' _thought the Sand jounin irritated. _'The operation would collapse because of you...'_

The Konoha jounins readied themselves for combat, it was clear that Orochimaru was outnumbered. Even though he was legendary, he had the Hokage, the special jounins Ibiki and Anko, the jounins Hayate, Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi and Gai to handle. The biggest threat had to be the Death Knight Uzumaki Naruto who was even more powerful than him, how could he defend himself against such a powerful force. With only the Sound genins, Kabuto's platoon and himself wouldn't be able to cut it.

"You can see you're completely surrounded," said the Hokage threateningly. "I suggest that you forfeit. Despite how strong you may be, this is a fight that you won't be able to get out from alive."

"Sarutobi-sensei," said Orochimaru giving a cackle. "You're too naïve if you think a several jounins, yourself and the Death Knight could take me down. If you know me, you know I come really prepared." He pulled down the sleeve of his left arm and revealed a watch. Naruto's eyes narrowed as the snake sennin pressed one of the buttons. It was an alarm and within a several rings, the ceiling of the arena exploded creating a large and wide opening. At that instant, dozens of shinobis came down from above and landed in the arena surrounding all the Konoha shinobis. Hinata bit her lip with slight anxiety, there were at least 5 or more dozens here. The odds weren't looking promising at all, most of these men looked at least they were at the chunnin level.

"So, calling your little men to do your dirty work?" questioned Naruto mockingly. "It wouldn't take me too long to send these imbeciles to meet their maker."

"You three," Orochimaru called to the three Sound genins in a hurry. "Aid your comrades and allies immediately!" As soon as the three got their orders, Orochimaru's eyes jerked in suddenness at what happened next. The genin's heads disappeared in a flash, blood burst through their necks like a fountain before their dead bodies collapsed to the ground. "What happened?" Naruto simply grinned hungrily when he saw the blood.

"You must be that bastard Naruto was talking about," called a voice coming from the balconies. The Death Knight grinned confidently when he heard Haku's voice. "You really have a lot of nerve showing your face here."

"These three were hardly a challenge," said Rin holding on to her now bloodstained katana standing near the fresh dead bodies. She flashed a dangerous glare before continuing. "I'll kill you for hurting ni-san."

"Let the fun begin," said Sasuke engaging his Sharingan.

"Count me in," added Neji as he went into his taijutsu stance. "Watch and learn." It was then all genins and jounins with the Hokage engaged themselves for the fiercest all out combat in their lives.

_**(Moments later)**_

Naruto took on the Sound chunnins along with the Konoha genins, he made sure he would destroy anyone and everyone who stood in his way. Rin and Haku dashed into the chaotic fight as well as soon as they saw the side -wall exploded allowing them to access to the outside. However, more reinforcements of the Sound were outside waiting for them. Rin narrowed her eyes and dashed towards the now destroyed part of the arena to stop any incoming attackers that may serve as a distraction.

"Chain Lightning!" shouted Rin as she unleashed a concentrated electric beam from her katana. The attack struck a chunnin heavily on the chest and soon the next effects of this hidden jutsu came to activation. At that moment, the beam jumped to the next nearby enemies in many jumps zapping the daylights out of them. A shiruken was aimed at the violet hair girl's head but it was proved to be no threat when Rin simply tilted her body smoothly to elude. Knowing where the weapon came from, Rin dashed with her katana in a striking position at high speed to the exact location where a chunnin was. The chunnin then tossed a series of weapons at her hoping it would do the task. However, with a swift defending slashes, all the weapons were easily deflected and destroyed into shreds of scrap metal. The chunnin's eyes widened in fear as the girl got close. She swiftly cleaved her blade within her enemies heart killing him instantly but she didn't expect another one to attack her.

"Shit," said Rin as she tried to pull out her weapon in time. However, the enemy already kicked her cheek sending her gliding away crashing. As the girl got back up, she had to admit this guy was pretty good to catch her off guard like that. She smirked darkly and held her katana tightly, she readied herself for the worst. As the enemy katana came down in a strike, she side stepped back to avoid but suddenly a kick launched itself at her stomach causing her to flinch in pain. The enemy seized this chance to engage in another attack but it was then when the female archer fired the Mana Burn right at his heart burning all specks of chakra. With a gasp of pain, the Sound chunnin fell dead to the ground. She glared to a far area and cringed her eyes in irritation when she saw more enemies coming in from the forests.

'_Have they been hiding in Konoha the entire time?'_ she thought bitterly while she prepared for the worst outcome.

_**(At that time with Neji)**_

"I need some covering fire!" shouted Neji as he pushed his palm into an enemy. Then he took out shirukens to create a minor distraction. Tenten leaped high immediately hearing Neji's signal. She then formed a set of hand seals.

"Cast Down no-jutsu!" shouted the weapon master as she gathered chakra in both her hands and performed a tossing action. It was then when the chakra was summoned downward in a storm of piercing blades like the Fan of Knifes but in more amount and strikes in a cone. The storm of blades was all Neji needed to halt the enemies for that 2 seconds for him to activate his attack.

"Divination Kaiten!" shouted Neji as he slid in the middle of a group of chunnins and spun heavily with a chakra shield. The initial burst forcefully thrusted three chunnins away making deep cracks into the hard cement wall. The Hyuga genius smirked as he saw blood coming from behind the victim's skulls and their bodies sliding down ever so slowly. It was then when another foolish ninja encountered the Hyuga genius in close range combat. With a thrust of maneuvers, Neji easily evaded the fist that was aimed for his head. With his Byakugan activated, he quickly struck 2 tenketsu points making the Sound chunnin stand dead still due to the internal pain. With a smirk, Neji twisted himself to gain additional strength in a kick sending the pitiful fool to the wall causing a great collision.

_**(Meanwhile with Naruto)**_

"Shit there he is, kill that bastard!" shouted a Sound nin pointing at Naruto as he alerted others. Naruto cursed his luck as a legion of weapons aimed right at him. With a set of thrusts and attacks, Naruto deflected as much as he could with his blade and charged towards them with pure anger. Suddenly, a wave of sand walloped the small group of chunnins and crushed them without hesitation. Naruto watched in confusion, what in the heck just happened?

"Need help?" asked Gaara as he ran to Naruto. Naruto simply smirked and gave an appreciated expression. "Desert Landslide." stated Gaara as he called forth another storm of sand to the enemies nearby. It was then when Naruto headed straight for Kabuto who was handling Sasuke, Hinata and Sakura. Gaara didn't have too much trouble defending himself but he had to admit that these fools were very annoying, they just kept coming.

"Out of my way!" shouted Naruto as he slashed a Sound chunnin from the head. However, the enemy blocked his assault with his own katana. With a slight twist of movement, Naruto unlocked the engaging position they were at and sliced a horizontal pursuit causing blood to eject out of the body violently. At that instant, the Death Knight felt a searing pain on his back. He gasped with pain as he glanced at a Sound nin who sneaked up behind him stabbing a kunai at into his flesh. The Death Knight couldn't sense his enemy at that time, he had to admit he was quick. Naruto then turned around gritting his teeth and kicked the bastard who pulled off that stunt in the crotch. He made sure that freak wouldn't have any kids anytime soon. As he pulled out that kunai with a jolt of distress, he dashed as quickly as possible to aid his friends.

"Burn that bastard!" ordered a Sound nin to his other two comrades as they completed a series of hand seals. "Fire Rain no-jutsu!" _'Shit...'_ thought Naruto immediately forming a defensive position. It was then when the three Sound ninjas released a legion of fireballs right at the Death Knight stopping his advance. The Death Knight then jumped high into the air avoiding the line of fire and performed his own jutsus.

"Mana Fla... Damn it!" yelped Naruto as a fireball hit directly at his face causing him to fall back down to the ground. As the dark shinobi caused the self-inflicting impact, the three Sound-nins didn't hesitate to attack while his guard was off.

"Take him down!" demanded the leader of that attack squad as he breathed out more fireballs in his coordination. Naruto angrily projected himself up to the air to avoid the incoming strikes aimed for the ground. However, the other two subbordinates directed the fire upward wounding Naruto by the shoulder, arms and legs.

"Get that son of a bitch!" taunted one of them as they blasted Naruto to the wall with their line projectile attacks. Naruto grunted in much pain as he felt his body making a collision to the cement wall while taking burning hits. As he spat out some blood, he flashed a dangerous glare and generated chakra within himself.

"Devour Magic!" he shouted as he made a powerful veil absorbing the pursuits. The enemies were shocked at his defense. Suddenly, he disappeared in a shocking fashion which surprised the attackers.

"Where the hell is he?" questioned the leader. Instantly, his sentence was cut short when Naruto kicked him in the stomach making him lower himself due to the pain. In a quick reaction, the Death Knight elbowed the back of his opponent cracking his spine killing him in an instant. As if on cue, the two subordinates reacted and attacked Naruto with kunai in their hand. As one attack came by, the boy lowered his body in a dodging position and nailed the attacker by directing his runeblade into his chest. The second one however, managed to slit Naruto's jacket making a deep cut into his flesh. It was then when the dark shinobi gripped him by the collar and gave a forceful forward toss. Ignoring the pain in the best of his ability, he rushed his way to aid Hinata.

**_(Currently with Lee and Haku)_**

"Konoha Senpuu!" shouted Lee as he kicked a Sound chunnin in the chest flinching him. The Konoha green beast then slid underneath the legs to get behind and punched the enemy by the back causing him to faint. Haku ran to Lee and they immediately went back to back aiding one another.

"You need help?" offered Haku as he generated chakra to his hand ready to strike.

"Yeah, I appreciate it," said Lee standing in an attacking posture. "How many more?"

"Too much I'm afraid. We need to work together, I'll take on these bastards on this side, and you deal with the other. If you need help, say so."

"Roger!" With a loud battle cry, Haku took out his glaive while Lee dashed with his fist high ready to strike. They made sure the Sound would receive something that they would never forget.

**_(In another part of the arena, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were in intense combat)_**

"Mana Burn!" declared Hinata as she did her set of seals for her lethal attack.

"Mana Flare!" shouted Sakura as she formed the powerful chakra filled shield and released energy beams at a multi direction. Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated, seized this covering fire opportunity and dashed towards the traitor Kabuto in a taijutsu match.

The Uchiha glided underneath Kabuto and gave an upward kick that was similar to Lee's hoping to engage in a combo. However, just like Naruto predicted, this genin easily avoided the first jutsus and the kick was no exception. Sasuke then gathered chakra into his feet to increase his speed hoping he could catch him. As he punched, Kabuto held his fist with his hand but Hinata came from the side with a gentle fist. Sakura continued to fire her Mana Flare as a covering attack but it still didn't seem like it was proving to be too effective despite the quick firing rate.

"He's too fast!" shouted Sakura.

"Get in there!" yelled Sasuke in an annoyed and yet desperate tone. Hinata nodded and Blinked behind Kabuto striking his kidney area with a gentle fist. Kabuto's eyes widened when he didn't even sense the girl's presence until now. Seeing her attacks weren't as fast as it should be, Kabuto decided to counter with his elbow planning to jam her face. Hinata grinned immediately, Kabuto was too predictable. She instantly prepared chakra in her palm forming a shield to defend. The older genin's eyes narrowed when his elbow made in contact, he found out he couldn't release himself out of this.

"Fan of Knives!" shouted the Hyuga heiress as she did a heavenly spin unleashing piercing chakra blades. Kabuto smirked darkly as if he was completed prepared for this attack. As the blades made contact, Kabuto's body disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a log was replaced.

"A replication?" asked Sasuke instantly observing his surroundings. "Damn, where could he be?"

"We've got movement!" said Sakura alerting the other two as she activated her Wind Walk to achieve invisibility and incredible agility. The pink hair genin glanced from above and found her enemy coming down with a kunai ready to stab the Uchiha.

"Shoot that bastard!" shouted Neji to the Uchiha as he forcefully pulled out a kunai from his now dead opponent. Sasuke leaped and flipped backwards as he formed another set of hand seals.

"Dragon Gust no-jutsu!" declared Sasuke as he created a powerful swirl wind of enraging flames directed to the air. Kabuto immediately twisted his body slightly trying to avoid it as much as he could. But suddenly he felt an incredible amount of pain on his face, he knew it was a kick. Kabuto dived down to the ground due to the force but still landed rather safely on his fours. He spotted Sakura coming from above with a kunai and smirked. Using a nit of chakra, he leaped forward avoiding that attack but it was then Hinata who came at him with her Byakugan flashing with rage.

_'I can see his tenketsu...'_ thought Hinata amazed_. 'I didn't even know I improved my eyes to the level that Neji-ni-san wanted me to. If I can see this, I could try to use the 64 strikes...'_ She then leaped back discarding her previous attack pattern and focussed on this new risky one. She breathed out a breath before continuing.

"You're within the field of my divination." Hinata stated as she tried to remember what her father taught her a several years back when he first introduced it to her. At that time, she wasn't good enough to accomplish it. She then stretched her arms widely and lowered herself into a stance. "Gentle Fist, Divination 64-Strikes."

"You're not going to do a thing to me, little girl," taunted Kabuto but it was then when the girl took action. With a quick step, Hinata was already in front of Kabuto ready to attack.

"2 strikes!" she exclaimed as she attempted to hit him. He simply took a step aside to allow her to miss completely. She knew he was playing with her but the last thing she wanted was to be intimidated. "4 strikes!" Again that was a dead miss. "8 Strikes, 16 Strikes, 32 Strikes!" Hinata was now very annoyed. Her Hyuga technique weren't working at all, or was it that she was still too weak? She didn't know and she didn't care, all she needed to accomplish was to get that bastard. Sakura, as if she knew this co-ordination immediately covered for her friend using the Mana Flare serving as a distraction. The energy flares stunned Kabuto since he couldn't pay as much attention to the pink hair girl. That flinch was all Hinata needed to finish this.

"64 Strikes!" declared Hinata as she struck 64 of Kabuto's tenketsu points heavily. The impact was significant and the older genin flew backward with blood escaping his mouth. However, when the trio who were battling him thought they got where they wanted him, it was then when Sasuke stepped in and delivered an upward kick to the chin. After a series of kicks going upward, Sasuke twisted himself to elevate his position higher. As he punched from above, a flip kick and another punch, it was then the perfect time to perform his new move.

"Shishi Rendan!" shouted the Uchiha as he slammed the heel of his foot to Kabuto's stomach crushing him to the ground. Sakura rejoiced but however, Kabuto just smirked and the figure disappeared in a cloud of smoke. _'A Bunshin?'_ thought the three with eyes widening with fear. They knew they were deep within a trap.

Hinata suddenly felt a punch to her stomach, she immediately curled up in pain. Next, a kick was delivered sending her sliding on the ground roughly. Even though she wasn't knocked out, those shots were critical. Sasuke and Sakura immediately came to her aid engaging in a taijutsu match. However, without Hinata's assistance, it was clear that their attacks didn't seem to cut it. With heavy kick to the ribs and volleys of strong punches to the shoulders, both Sasuke and Sakura were knocked on to the ground near Hinata painfully.

"See you again, my children," called Kabuto already outside running away. "I wish I could have more time playing with you, but I have more matters to take care of."

"Come back here, you son of a bitch!" demanded Sasuke but Kabuto was already long gone. Who remained were another batch of Sound chunnins equipped with katanas. The three weren't prepared due to the pain. The Sound-nis obviously took this to their advantage of this situation. Out of the blue, another Hyuga stepped in between them and performed the divine Kaiten knocking the enemies away for the time being.

"What are you three doing?" questioned Neji angrily deflected several shirukens with his own kunai. "Don't you guys dare start to freeze on us now, we need every one of you to make it out of here alive! Don't start freezing, damn it!" Neji then spun to the air and kicked the remaining enemy with force. _'Shit... we can't hold on like this for much longer...'_ thought Neji angrily as he dashed back to the battlefield with Tenten.

"Forget about that bastard," called the Uchiha to Hinata and Sakura. "We have to assist anyone else who are still here!"

"I hear you!" replied Sakura as she aided Hinata back to her feet. However, it was then another rain of weapons came down from above. Hinata's arm was struck by two kunais and Sakura's upper thigh was pierced badly by a shiruken. Sasuke immediately watched above and several more Sound ninjas were coming down preparing to strike. With a several hand seals, the Uchiha another Dragon Fire no-jutsu burning the incoming troops to oblivion. At that point, the raven hair boy was already starting showing signs of tiredness but he knew he had to keep going.

"You okay?" asked Shikamaru running with Ino and Chouji. Shikamaru already had a many needles punctured in his arms, he seemed to be running with a bit of trouble.

"I've been hit, I need a medic!" said Sakura as Hinata painfully pulled out the kunais out of her arm.

"This isn't gonna hurt a bit," said Hinata as she used Rejuvenation on Sakura. Sakura then formed a set of hand seals and activated Rejuvenation as well to heal her friends.

"Thanks Sakura..." mumbled Shikamaru as he used a Shadow Bind at long range to support Haku and Lee.

"We have to keep fighting!" shouted Ino angrily as she and Chouji ran back to the battlefield assisting the jounins and their comrades.

**_(Meanwhile)_**

Rin screamed in pain as she collided to the tree outside due to a multiple explosive tag explosion. She was wounded with a several weapons in her flesh. She winced in anger as her enemies seized this opportunity to attack. _'Their numbers are limitless...'_ cursed Rin mentally as she charged up more chakra.

"Mana Burn!" shouted Rin firing a negative charged beam carefully. The Sound nin simply leaped high to avoid her assault and prepared his katana to end the girl's life. Rin smirked darkly ass she immediately Blinked behind her opponent in a quick pace and wrapped herself onto him in a lock. The next second, an audible snapping sound could be heard. The Sound nin of course was killed. Rin panted a bit knowing her body was tiring out. She suddenly heard an explosion and another painful cry was present. One of the remaining arena walls collapsed and the person who went through was none other than Naruto. He roughly slid on the ground hitting a tree with his back.

"Take him out!" demanded a Sound nin as he made an advance signal. His other two subordinates then tosses multiple explosive tags in a shower, Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger. He attempted to move but his left leg wouldn't function properly, his eyes widened as the explosives already surrounded him. He quickly made a crossing arm defend pose as the tags violently exploded making him cry in torment.

"Look at your face!" taunted one of the sound nins victoriously.

"Did we get him?" asked another confirming if Naruto was down. Suddenly, they could see a glowing aura within the smoke charging out. With a battle cry, the dark shinobi with his Unholy Aura activated dashed to his opponents with his runeblade charged with deathly green chakra. His movement though was significantly slower than usual but quick nonetheless.

The Death Knight made a vertical slash striking the head first killing the leader in an instant. Once the other two were more alerted, the dark shinobi immediately lowered himself and slashed off the legs of one of them. It was then when the second one pierced another kunai to his back. Gasping with pain, the boy then elbowed his enemy and turned around with his hand in a grasping way.

"Cripple!" announced the Death Knight as he crushed the last Sound chunnin with chakra. In a second, his opponent was mended beyond recognition, he was in a deathly state. Naruto now ran back in a crippled way but he was stopped by his sister.

"Ni-san!" called Rin as she made her way to him. She gasped as she saw him, he had multiple weapons stuck to his arms and back. "Are you okay? Let me see your wounds..."

"It's okay, Rin-chan... it's just a flesh wound..." replied Naruto hesitantly trying to cover it.

"Let me help you though, you can't fight like this." She then pulled out any weapons that were in him, the wounds certainly looked serious.

"Thanks, Rin-chan," said Naruto as he charged up chakra within his blade pointing to himself. "Death Coil!" The coil of death launched itself at him in a devouring manner. Rin hated this attack when she saw it every time. It seemed so disgusting. As the effects wore off, Naruto felt more alive. He then gave Rin a soldier pill to refresh her strength and the duo then ran back to aid others who were in need.

**_(Inside the arena, the genins are regrouping)_**

"Hold still you bastard, it isn't gonna hurt a bit!" called Haku as he used an ointment that Hinata gave him on Lee's opened wound. Lee winced at the stinging sensation but decided to hold it, the medicine was clearly effective.

"Shika, they're getting away!" shouted Ino as she dodged an incoming shiruken just barely.

"To hell as if I'll let them!" called back Shikamaru as he formed a series of hand seals. "Shadow Bind no jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow extended immediately and captured them dead in their tracks. This wasn't the Shadow Imitation, so he signaled Chouji to crush them all with the Meat Tank. A snap and breaking sound was heard as Chouji ran through them, Shikamaru and Ino couldn't help feeling victorious for their teamwork.

Ino glanced at the area, she could tell the most of the Sound were already crushed and some of them retreated. A sense of relief came to her senses as she fell on her knees in exhaustion.

"Hey, is everybody okay?" asked Naruto as he leaped to the genins with Rin by his side.

"Yeah, we're for now," reported Hinata. "We took care of most of these bastards with the jounins..."

"Some of them got away..." added Sakura with slight hint of disappointment with herself.

"That bastard Kabuto was one of them, damn it," said Sasuke holding a fist and tightening it. "He'll pay for this dearly!"

"C'mon, we gonna find that Orochimaru," said Naruto looking at the broken ceiling.

"Naruto," called Kakashi who was covered in blood. "Are you all okay? Any injuries?"

"Nothing that we can't deal with, sensei," said Sakura as she wiped some blood off her chin. "Where the hell is that Orochimaru? Sensei, please tell us!"

"He was outnumbered earlier and managed to make an escape effectively..."

"Did you do anything to stop him?" asked Shikamaru.

"We tried to but many of us weren't at his level," admitted Kakashi with a touch of guilt. "Hokage-sama however chased after him and decided to make things right. They left the area just 15 minutes ago."

"Why in the hell are you still standing here for?" questioned Naruto in disbelief. "Why aren't you going after him? The Hokage is going to be killed at this rate!"

"He gave us an order to stay here regardless of what happens," explained Kakashi with frustration. "We have to obey them!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," said Naruto. "I'm going after that bastard and none of you are going to follow, understand?"

"You can't go alone, Naruto-kun!" demanded Hinata holding his hand tightly begging him.

"You'll all be killed if you come with me," he argued. "I'll have backup, I'll be fine."

"You're not going without me!"

"No, you're not Hinata-chan! Why can't you understand the seriousness of this situation? This is the safety of the Hokage, the future of Konoha! The last thing Konoha needs is shinobis with potential acting like a bunch of kamikaze morons!"

"And you aren't?" questioned Neji.

"I am clearly not..." replied Naruto as he coughed out blood.

"Stop acting like a hero and just quit this tough act!" shouted Lee.

"You're strong, not invincible." Shikamaru stated with much emotion instead of his lazy attitude.

"Can any of you fight that snake freak?" Naruto retorted with his patience on the line. "I can't allow you guys to risk your lives for nothing, you'll all be killed if you fight him. Rin-chan, sempai and I are the only ones that could actually stand a chance against him, don't you understand?"

"We do but we can't let you do this by yourself," said Sakura nearly in tears.

"You can't go on like this." Sasuke said trying to put some sense into the Death Knight.

"Naruto, your body is clearly wasted right now," Haku checked his pulse and it was somewhat irregular. "There's no possible way that you should be continuing."

"I'll be fine," reassured Naruto not in the most promising voice. After fireball rains, explosives blowing up on your face and body, weapons stuck to your flesh, not even the Unholy Aura could heal that quickly. Naruto knew his body was worn out, he didn't have enough strength to sense chakra signatures any longer. The best he could do was see through the blindfold. It was then when he coughed a bit more but more hoarsely.

"Ni-san!" said Rin holding him in an aiding way. "You really are hurt from all that impact that you saved me from earlier. Why did you do something so recklessly?"

"It was worth it..." he said as he hoped his aura would heal him quicker but he could sense it weakening due to his injuries.

"You have to stay here," said Gaara. "You can't start talking crazy at a time like this."

"Naruto, for Hinata-sama's sake," stated Neji. "Just don't go."

"I have to," replied the Death Knight. "Rin-chan... sempai... please take care of everything here... I'll be okay, I promise..."

"Fine, I trust you..." said Haku reluctantly.

"Thanks," said Naruto with gratitude and leaped out of the arena. The remaining genins wanted to follow but it was then Rin, Haku and the other jounins blocking their advance.

**_(Moments later)_**

'_This is not good,'_ thought Naruto leaping from tree to tree with much pain. _'With the Hokage leaving this area around 20 minutes ago, who knows where he could've gone?'_

_'You're not using your head, Death Knight,'_ called the demon master with amusement.

_'Kyubi-chan... what are you doing here?' _asked Naruto with surprise.

_'Trying to help my favorite apprentice of course.'_

_'I'm your only apprentice. Hey, you got any ideas?'_

_'Why don't you try summoning?'_ she suggested kindly. _'They were always a great help before.'_

_'I forgot I had that technique ever since I was able to use these eyes effectively,'_ replied Naruto with a grin. _'I might need some of your chakra later if you don't mind.'_

_'I'll give you some when you really need it. Don't worry, I won't let you die.'_

'_Thanks for saying so.'_ He then ended the conversation and withdrew his blade and landed on a branch gathering the last bit of chakra he had in him. He then made hand seals with one hand and held his blade high ready to strike the branch with the tip.

"Revenants Rise!" shouted Naruto as he struck the branch with enough strength not to break it. At that instant, 3 dark warriors with deathly swords were risen from the dark energies that the Death Knight created. They almost looked human but a bit vampuric.

"It has been a while, Naruto-sama," said the leader revenant with a grin that matched Naruto's. "What are your orders?"

"Split up and search for the Hokage and Orochimaru for me. When you find them, create a flare to notify the others, understand?"

"Why aren't you using your eyes?" asked the second one with a smirk. Naruto simply grinned at his summoned warrior's words with amusement.

"I need you three as my backup as well, don't disappoint me."

"Roger that." The three summoned revenants replied and took off in three different directions while Naruto continued with his own path. However, he suddenly fell on his knees and breathed heavily.

'_What the hell is wrong with me?'_ cursed the dark shinobi angrily. _'My body isn't responding... this is bad.'_

_'Naruto!'_ shouted Kyubi aiding him. _'Speak to me, Naruto!'_

_'Kyubi-chan... what is going on, why can't I move properly?'_

_'Your body is nearly out of chakra,'_ she explained worriedly. _'You can't keep this up for much longer if you don't get some rest. Your Unholy Aura is already gone if you haven't noticed.'_ Naruto couldn't feel his aura any longer, he was way too weak to sustain something that didn't require any chakra to maintain. This wasn't a promising sign.

_'I need to keep moving...'_ said the Death Knight as he weakly stood back on his feet using his blade for support._ 'I can't let that snake freak kill Hokage-sama...'_

_'Why do you always put others ahead of yourself, Death Knight?'_ questioned Kyubi with status. _'Why don't you ever look at where you stand for a change? How are you supposed to help someone if you can't even defend yourself?'_

_'Because I was too weak to kill Orochimaru...'_ replied Naruto with difficulty_. 'It's my fault that he's still alive this day, it's my responsibility if Hokage-sama dies because of him. I have to take responsibility for whatever I do, this is one of them. Kyubi-chan... I need your chakra...'_

_'If you body isn't even in a decent shape, it would be useless.'_

_'I need it now damn it!'_ commanded Naruto flashing a dangerous glare.

_'That energy is too powerful for your body to handle!'_ she argued with much irritation. _'You could die if your body doesn't have the basic strength to take it, I wouldn't hesitate if you were in better shape but you're not! That power could kill you right now, it's too much to take in a sudden! I won't give it to you and that's final.'_

_'How dare you betray me at a time like this?'_ questioned Naruto with wrath in his voice. _'What kind of master are you not helping their apprentice?'_

_'You call killing them helping?' _she asked him dangerously.

_'You said you would give me the chakra!'_

_'If you weren't that wasted!' _The demon master knew this wasn't getting anywhere, she couldn't give him the chakra he wanted, it would really kill him if she offered it. _'I'm sorry, Naruto, I can't allow you to continue this.'_

"Shit there he is, shoot that bastard!" shouted someone all of a sudden in an alerting voice. Naruto's eyes opened in shock when he saw a few sound nins on his tail sending explosive tags as him_. 'They are high gunpowder explosives!'_ thought Naruto as he saw the words written on it.

"Damn!" he cursed loudly as the explosives ignited violently sending him flying back and colliding to the solid ground head first. As he made contact, he passed out in nearly an instant suffering a concussion. The Sound-nins smirked widely.

"That's right, that's right! That's what you get, HAHA!" With that, they left the area leaving the Death Knight to rot. _'Why must I be so careless?' _That was his last thought before fully passed out.

**_(After an unknown amount of time)_**

"Where in the hell am I?" asked Naruto to himself when he woke up not knowing how long it has been. His body felt weak, he took a glimpse of the area around him and opened a bit wider in disbelief. He found out he was in a clear violet room sleeping in a futon. He felt a bit too warm in a futon and yet he felt someone was pressing on his chest. He took a glimpse at who was in front of him, he wasn't surprised to see someone with long dark hair sleeping peacefully.

"Hey," said Naruto shaking the person who was clearly a girl. "Wake up." The girl then slowly opened her eyes and rubbed it to ease the sleepiness she still had. When she looked at Naruto, the Death Knight suddenly jerked back slightly. When the little girl saw him look at her eyes directly, she immediately blushed cutely.

"Good morning..." she said shyly. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yeah..." said Naruto feeling a bit farfetched. _'Her eyes... am I where I think I am?' _"May I know your name?"

"Sure..." she said still blushing deeply. This girl had never seen such a handsome guy up close. "I'm Hyuga Hanabi."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," said the Death Knight observing her, he had to admit she was pretty. "It's nice to..." As he stretched out his arm, he could feel a searing pain. He flinched immediately and Hanabi looked worried.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"A bit," answered the boy holding his arm tightly. "You know why my arm seems so crapped up?"

"Sister and a medic-nin from the Mist said that your bodies suffered from a lot of explosions of some sort," she explained. "They said it isn't anything that serious."

"If it isn't that critical... I don't understand why this hurts this much..." She giggled immediately. "What's so funny Hanabi-chan?"

"Nothing..." she lied blushing. "It's just that it sounded funny from you?"

"Is it?" he asked a bit confused. She nodded.

"Have you been here the entire night?"

"I did, I wanted to make sure you wouldn't freak out when you woke up not knowing where you are."

"Where am I then?" asked Naruto.

"You're in the Hyuga mansion." _'Just as I thought...'_ said Naruto in his head.

"You didn't have to watch me all night, you need your rest too right?"

"It's okay... I'm glad that I did it..." Hanabi replied weakly.

"You're sweet." Then Naruto pecked her softly on the forehead. It was clear that the girl flushed deeply.

"Shall I get my sister to help you?" suggested Hanabi changing the subject since she couldn't believe she was blushing this much to a guy.

"Who's your sister?" he asked rather dumbly. He already had a feeling of who it was.

"Hinata." With a blush still partially visible on her cheeks, Hanabi left the room and began to look for Hinata. As the girl closed the door, she took one last glimpse at him. _'No wonder sister likes him so much, he's such a nice person...'_

Naruto observed his surroundings for the first time, he figured that this must've been a guest room in the Hyuga mansion. This room alone was already at least 5 times better than his room, not like he cared. Moments later, he felt a pair of soft hand holding his own. He didn't need to even look at who it was, he knew it was her.

"Naruto-kun..." said Hinata with the most pleasant smile he saw in his life. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, my left arm just needs more rest from explosions," answered Naruto in an amused way.

"You call that fine?" she asked in slight hint of disbelief.

"It's better than those broken arms and legs, my dear Hinata-chan."

"You are so unpredictable," said the Hyuga girl kissing him softly on the cheek. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"I suppose so... what happened to the others? Are they fine?"

"Don't worry about it, Neji-ni-san, Sasuke-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Kiba-kun, Chouji and Lee-san are resting safely in the hospital right now."

"Why are they there?" asked Naruto wanting an answer at that instant.

"Most of them suffered from exhaustion... some of them may have had minor internal injuries as well. It's nothing that severe that rest couldn't help." Hinata assured him by holding his hands tighter, Naruto hoped she wasn't lying to herself.

"Where's Sakura-chan? I thought she would be here with you."

"Naruto-kun, you've been out for two days already," Hinata whispered softly but audible. "Sakura-san was here, she was really worried about you. How could you have taken off like that when your body was still injured? If it wasn't for a dark warrior that told us where you were, Rin-san, Haku-san and Sakura-san wouldn't have found you! How could you do this?"

"I needed to..." he replied with guilt. "I thought that was going to be the end of my life... I couldn't believe how careless I was..." He then rested his eyes into space remembering the thoughts he had when the sneak attack took place. He then held Hinata close, he really thought he would never see her again. It wasn't only her, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to experience daylight to have Sakura, Rin, Haku, Sasuke, Lee, Neji and other people in Konoha in his vision. Hinata embraced him back with affection, she held on to him as if he came back from the dead.

"Don't think like that anymore... we have to think positively for the sake of Konoha..."

"Why are you getting depressed all of a sudden, Hina-chan?" he asked as he looked into her pools of pearly lavender. He detected a sense of sadness already, it didn't take his teal eyes to figure that out. "Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" A sudden sense of realization hit him. "Hinata-chan, tell me something."

"What?" she asked with her voice somewhat trembling but it was not due to fear.

"What happened to Hokage-sama? I know I didn't make it to him because I was attacked. Hinata-chan, is the 3rd okay? C'mon answer me!" Hinata didn't meet his eyes, she refused to make any gazes which was strange to him. She never looked away with such dejection.

"I don't want to talk about the 3rd right now, Naruto-kun!" she declared softly but with hidden force. Naruto gave her a bit of space to relieve herself but he gave her the look that he needed a reply soon. He held her by the shoulder softly with his uninjured arm and softened his expression.

"What happened?" he asked again trying to comfort her.

"Hokage-sama was murdered," Hinata stated trying not to cry. "Orochimaru killed him... several Anbus witnessed his death, they said it was horrible..." At that time, the girl's cheeks were flowing with a line of tears, Naruto's heart sank deeply hearing those words, he felt responsible for the 3rd's death. He wanted to charge up a Rasengan and blow the hospital wall into shreds. However he calmed himself down as he remembered something that he read in Life and Death Paradise. What could he have done in that situation at that time? He was injured and barely had enough strength to defend himself. He had to apologize to his master, she was only trying to protect him and he flashed her the most deadliest glares he could muster. He knew what her chakra could do, he was just being arrogant.

"Damn that bastard..." mumbled Naruto bitterly with rage and held her closer. A sign of regret came across his face, he just wished he could've done something to make a difference. What would Konoha do without their great leader now? For once in his life, he felt useless. "How many more innocent people must be killed?"

"Naruto-kun... I'm so worried about you." She then hugged him tighter for security. "It always feels like that there's something that wants you to tear away from me. What I feel more afraid is that neither of us have the power to stop this from happening. I don't want to lose you, Naruto-kun..."

"I don't want that to happen either..."

"But each time I feel so unsafe," she continued cutting him off. "Each time I feel that there's something that may separate us and when it fails... it comes back stronger than before."

"Nothing could ever separate us in spirit,"

"I know but it's hard to keep this optimism up if you keep risking your life as if it contains no value."

"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan..." he apologized not meeting her pearl eyes filled with sadness.

"I don't want to hear that!" she basically yelled at him with hostility. "Why can't I have a Naruto-kun who I could lean on and rely on? Why can't I feel the feeling of coming to your place and I'll be sure that you're alive? Why do I always feel that something has happened to you?"

"I'm always here for you, Hinata-chan," said Naruto holding her softly with assurance.

"Can you please promise me that you value your life more? Think of this as me begging you," she then dug her head into his chest crying loudly to his shirt. "I beg you to please put yourself ahead of others at times, I don't want to see you nearly dead again because you want to do something that you can't!" She then cried again. Naruto's heart sank another depth, those were his master's words exactly. He hurt her, he hurt the girl he loved badly. It wasn't the first time, this time the girl was basically at his mercy begging him to take care of himself more.

_'What did I do to make Hinata-chan so down?'_ he asked himself in thought with much guilt and regret. He couldn't believe she sank to that level for him, she loved him dearly and all he did was worry her. A searing pain struck his heart, he didn't have the face to look at Hinata, he felt so unworthy of her love. _'How could I call myself a person when I made the one I love like this?'_

"I promise you, Hinata-chan," he said embracing her again wanting to cry. "I won't make you worry about me like that again. I know it hurts you, but I want you to know that it hurts me even more when I see you like this. I want to promise you, I will promise you." She immediately returned the hug with much more passion, that was all he wanted to hear from him. She then kissed him on the lips softly and he didn't hesitate to return it back. It was then when the slide door opened revealing a figure standing there. Naruto parted his lips from the girl and looked at the person, his eyes narrowed immediately.

(Somewhere on the hospital grounds)

"Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as she wrapped her arms around the Uchiha while walking in the hospital's park. "Did you know that I was really worried about you when we fought those Sound-nins?"

"I know you were..." said Sasuke looking at the sadness in her face. "I was too..."

"You were worried about me too?"

"Of course I was," said Sasuke wrapping his arm around her shoulder showing that he meant what he said.

"I thought that was bad enough but when I found ni-chan lying there lifeless, I thought I could just die!"

"You love Naruto don't you, Sakura?" asked Sasuke with a sign of disappointment.

"I do love him, Sasuke-kun, he's the best brother I ever had in my life." 'It's now or never, Sasuke...' thought the Uchiha to himself. 'Summon some courage damn it...'

"Sakura..." he began with a bit of difficulty. "What do you think about me?"

"What do you mean?" asked the girl a bit confused.

"I just want to ask, what do you see me as a person? How do you feel about me?"

"Where are you getting at?"

"Am I your friend?"

"Of course you are, silly," replied the girl hugging him with more passion. "You're always my friend no matter through thick and thin!"

"Am I a person whose more than a friend to you?" he asked with hesitation since he didn't want his voice to crack due to shyness. At this point, the girl blushed deeply, a sudden sense of realization hit her now. She realized that the boy had fallen for her secretly.

"Sasuke-kun... I..."

"I want to say that I love you, Sakura..." admitted the Uchiha. "I've loved you ever since you changed and matured. I know you like me as a friend and I don't care if you return my feelings or not, I just want you to know that you have someone who loves you. You'll always have someone to rely on when you're sad or depressed, whether you're happy or troubled. I'll always be a friend who loves you." He then broke the embrace awkwardly and gave her a genuine smile. He looked at her blushing face, he thought she was beautiful. He then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, Sakura was still frozen. "Well, I'm sorry for being so direct," continued Sasuke with a hint of sorrow. "I hope to see you around, Sakura, thanks for having this walk with me..." His fake smile then turned into a frown of pain, he was crushed.

_'Sasuke-kun loves me...'_ thought Sakura trying to snap out of it. _'Doesn't he know that I love him too? Why did he seem so sad after he kissed me... why didn't I do anything?' _As if on impulse, the pink hair girl reached her arm and held onto his not allowing him to continue his movement. The Uchiha turned around just to see Sakura wanting to cry. However, it wasn't filled with sadness, it was the opposite.

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed as she launched herself at him. Luckily for the raven hair genin, he was strong enough to take it. She instantly pulled him into an embrace which he didn't hesitate to return it.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" he asked soothingly to her ears.

"I think there's something that you want to hear, my Sasuke-kun..."

"What could that be?"

"I love you too." Sasuke smiled the most delightful smile he could muster, it was radiant. The duo then leaned closer to another slowly until their foreheads made contact. Their eyes didn't leave one another's for a second. The girl then blushed but refused to lay her eyes off him until their lips nearly met.

"Sakura, may I?" he asked politely. It was then when the girl showed him that permission wasn't needed at all. She kissed him heavenly giving the Uchiha all the love she wanted him to receive. The two newly couple remained there in that position as long as their bodies could take. They knew they loved another, there was no use denying it. As their lips parted, both grinned at another mischievously and engaged in another passionate kiss.

**_(At that same moment in the Hyuga mansion)_**

"Jiraiya-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto a little shocked.

"Naruto, we need to talk." Jiraiya stated seriously. Sensing the important tone Jiraiya used, Naruto narrowed his eyes with the same manner.

"What's the matter? Has something gone wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that, Naruto. You are needed in a meeting right now, I need you to come with me right away."

"Can I come too?" asked Hinata politely. The sennin simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san," said Jiraiya sadly. "There are some things that we aren't obligated to share with a mere genin, I hope you understand." Hinata nodded sadly and watched the Death Knight having trouble getting out of his bed due to his injured arm. She aided him in the best of her ability to the bathroom for him to get dressed. Minutes later, Naruto came back out with the same type of clothing he usually wore. He kissed Hinata on the cheek before he left with Jiraiya. Both teens knew this was something crucial.

(At the conference room in the Hyuga mansion)

Naruto and Jiraiya opened the door to the conference room, the Death Knight was surprised that only a Hyuga was present. The two sat on a cushion that was offered to them, Naruto wondered what this was all about.

"It's an honor to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun," said the Hyuga. "I'm Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga clan."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Hyuga-sama," Naruto returned the greeting with respect. Hiashi was impressed with his maturity, it was rare to see that in a 13 year old.

"I want you ask you a question, Naruto-kun," said Hiashi with a smile. Naruto raised an eyebrow a bit at the suddenness. "Do you know that I'm Hinata's father?" Naruto merely grinned at that.

"I'll be honest, I don't. Hinata-chan never told me too much about her family other than Neji at times."

"Hinata-chan?" he asked. "Do you know my daughter well?"

"She's my teammate," replied Naruto calmly with eyes showing no emotion. "I hope that isn't a problem with you, Hyuga-sama."

"Not at all, I want to ask that if you love her."

"Why do you ask?" Naruto returned the question skillfully.

"When Hinata and your three friends brought you here, I could tell that Hinata was very concerned about you. It was like as if you were more important to her than a mere friend. I'm a bit curious." Naruto smiled at that statement. Hiashi clearly knew who Naruto was in Hinata's life, he just needed the truth from the boy in person. (AN: There will be a family meeting like scenario in later chapters!)

"Hiashi," called Jiraiya. "This isn't the time to talk about that right now, we didn't call the boy here to discuss things about your daughter."

"Of course," said Hiashi. "Naruto, do you know why you are summoned here?"

"No I don't." The Death Knight replied sincerely.

"As you know the Third Hokage has been killed by Orochimaru, right?"

"I heard it from Hinata-chan just moments ago," said Naruto. "What's going to happen to Konoha now?"

"I'll get to that," stated the Hyuga heir. "But I think you need to know about the Sound attacks from the beginning and what kind of allies they were supposed to have."

"Supposed to have? What are you saying?"

"Did you have any idea that the Sand was supposed to be in the same operation?" asked Jiraiya. Naruto obviously had no idea. "I'll say this, the actions you took that day made Orochimaru commence the mission one month ahead and extremely unprepared. The Sand was initially planned to join in with the invasion of Konoha during the finals of the chunnin exam."

"If the Sand was supposed to be in, why did Gaara-san help me during the fight?"

"He refused to take part in it and went against orders," elucidated Hiashi. "He said that he couldn't allow his only true friend to be suffering because of him."

"He was the Sand's trump card," continued Jiraiya. "Basically he was the key person to lead the attack."

"What happened to Gaara-san?" asked Naruto in a hurry. "Is he okay?"

"Don't worry, his brother Kankuro and sister Temari are still in Konoha trying to make up any mistakes that he might have did here. We are grateful that the attack that Orochimaru commenced didn't make as much casualties as we imagined. If the Sand was here, the situation would've been much worse for certain."

"Did something else happen outside of the tower arena?"

"Orochimaru summoned his cobras to attack the side gates of Konoha when the troops were unprepared," clarified Hiashi sadly. "We lost quite a bit of chunnins due to that sneak attack." Naruto slammed his fist to the ground angrily. The two adults understood his intentions.

"So not only that the Third has been killed during the time I passed out, other shinobis have been killed?" questioned Naruto flashing his eyes fiercely. Jiraiya and Hiashi nodded reluctantly. "Has Konoha been invaded quite badly?" Once again, the two nodded with guilt. Naruto breathed out heavily with frustration, he couldn't believe that much has happened. "So what is it that you need me for?" asked the Death Knight not in the most relaxed tone. "What's going to happen to Konoha without the Third?"

"The higher counsels have decided that Jiraiya-sama and I will volunteer to take over the Hokage's position until a 5th Hokage is found. What we need as soon as possible is a 5th Hokage."

"So what you're telling me is that you want me to find the 5th?" The two adults nodded, the boy's observation skills were still at top notch. "Why can't one of you just take on the role? Jiraiya-sensei is a sennin, he would suit the position just fine."

"I ain't the most reliable person on these grounds, Naruto," justified the frog hermit. "I could do this temporarily but not as a career."

"I hope your answer has nothing involved in those Icha Icha Paradise novels..." growled Naruto silently which made Hiashi chuckle a little bit. Jiraiya just sent the boy a death glare. "Anyway, I know Hyuga-sama is the heir, I could understand that he couldn't abandon his position anytime soon until Hinata-chan takes over. But I want to ask if I could take anyone with me? I want Gaara-san to be my traveling partner."

"I don't think that would do," said Hiashi. "Gaara is needed here in Konoha for protecting this place, he can't be dispatched with you."

"Why are you guys sending me on this task alone?" asked the dark shinobi not pleased at this. "Can't Rin-chan at least come with me?"

"She is an apprentice medic, she is needed here in the medical department with the newly applied former Mist Hunter-nin. Konoha can't spare these people at the moment since there are many injured people, civilians and shinobis alike."

"What about Hinata-chan? Sakura-chan, Sasuke?"

"No, and especially not Hinata." Jiraiya told his student firmly.

"How come?" Jiraiya then whispered a fairly long message to the boy's ear. Naruto nodded to a few, and then his eyes widened, soon he listened to a bit more and finally nodded many times quickly. Naruto sighed at what his teacher just said, he made very good points. _'If I took Hinata-chan along... we would be alone...'_ thought Naruto already thinking of the possibilities that he wasn't looking forward to. _'Knowing this would be an urgent mission, I can't have her to slow me down.'_

"So, would you accept this mission?" asked Hiashi as he made an offering hand gesture.

"Mission accepted." Naruto then smirked widely with hidden excitement. "When do I leave, who is the person that you guys want me to look for?"

"You'll be looking for your 'big sister', Naruto," said Jiraiya smiling when thinking of her. "Please bring her back as soon as possible."

"Tsunade-oba-chan?" asked the Death Knight in disbelief. "You want me to look for her?"

"She's the only person that has the potential to do take on this task," continued Jiraiya. "I haven't seen her for so long, I wonder how much more beautiful she has become..."

"You just want to her naked don't you?" asked the silver hair boy with his eye twitching.

"Of course not," lied Jiraiya. Hiashi could tell he was lying right from the start. "I'm her good friend, I wouldn't do anything like that. Besides, I have my limits." Naruto narrowed his eyes even more, he knew that Tsunade was a very attractive woman, especially with her oversized and nearly completely revealing cleavage. He as certain that Jiraiya was thinking about that only when he would mention the name Tsunade anywhere. As the Death Knight remember that cleavage, he shivered a bit but the look on Jiraiya's face made him know the hermit wanted to experience it in a way he wouldn't forget. The boy sighed in exasperation as Jiraiya handed him the mission briefings.

"What's this?"

"Your basic instructions, that's what." The frog sennin then opened it for him to read. "Tsunade isn't someone that would stay in one location for too long, I suggest you leave sometime today and use any type of quick method travel, that would ensures your chances of looking for her." Naruto looked at the map that was given to him and smiled. The area wasn't as wide as he thought it would be but it would take some time nonetheless.

"I understand," said the Death Knight as he pocketed the info in his pouch. "I'll be off soon then." He then formed a set of hand seals of the Rejuvenation and cast it on his arm. He grinned as he felt the pain was no longer there. "How will I explain this to Hinata-chan though or any of my friends."

"Just say this is a classified mission if they mention it," suggested Hiashi with a smile. "Better yet, don't tell them at all. You should leave this village as quietly as a leaf landing on the ground. And Naruto-kun, don't tell my daughter where you would be going, okay?"

"Why?"

"I know what kind of person you are to Hinata, Neji told me about you a several times in the past. Her heart was already captured by you when she was very young and now I'm sure she has done the same?"

"You're right, Hyuga-sama," admitted Naruto. "I do love your daughter and you have my word on that nothing is going to happen her. You have no clue how important Hinata-chan is to me in my life. I want to make your daughter the happiest girl she could be." He then gave a very determined look to the Hyuga heir. Hiashi smiled at his words, Naruto certainly reminded him of someone he knew long ago.

"I believe you completely, Naruto-kun." The Death Knight smiled back and left the room politely with a bow. However, Jiraiya halted him before the door.

"What is it now, sensei?" asked Naruto eyeing his sensei suspiciously.

"Can you do me a big favor, boy? When you come back with Tsunade, can you suggest her to wear something even more revealing? Not to mention what kind of bra size she wears and please make her go..." Naruto then immediately slammed the door shut violently in his face with the most annoyed and disbelieved expression he could make.

He walked back to the room with the lovely Hinata kneeling with two trays of food waiting for him. She gave him a smile of delight and hugged him passionately. He embraced her back but one thing was still in his mind, how could he leave Konoha without her noticing. There was another issue, how could he leave her behind. Without warning. he broke the hug they had and took initiative to claim her lips in a kiss.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked between breaths. She was surprised that this unexpected turn of events but she couldn't deny that this was nice.

"What is it, my dear?" he asked calmly in control.

"Can you do that again?" she asked with a blush.

"Getting impatient now are we?" he asked with much amusement. She looked at him strangely with a grin, she knew he was never this outgoing, it seemed like he wanted to seduce her with a hidden charm. Regardless of what he was trying to do, she liked it.

"Please, you know that I love you kissing me."

"Anything for my Hinata-chan." He then took possession of her soft lips once again, she moaned pleasantly into his mouth before she pushed him on the futon seizing control. Naruto knew this was going to be something that he wouldn't receive for a while from his favorite girl, he wanted to make the best of it. Before he could get into deeper thought, her lips captured his neck and the thought of breakfast vanished. When she made the mark that she wanted to give him, he hugged her tightly knowing this would be one of the last times before the mission began. Hinata had a slight impression of what was going on, Naruto seemed to be very absorbed. In fact, too absorbed. Something was up, she could feel it in her veins.

"Naruto-kun," she asked while on top of him. "What did you guys talk about just now?"

"Nothing much, just things that are happening in Konoha right now and how we should act from now when the Third is now gone."

"The funeral for him is this afternoon," she whispered in his ear nibbling it a bit trying to attract him even more. "Could you come with me?" _'This afternoon?'_ thought the dark warrior in realization. _'What am I going to do? Remember what Hiashi-sama said... just ignore it in front of them...'_

"Sure thing, Hinata-chan..." he replied with the smallest sign of hesitation. Deep down, he could already sense the start of this given task wasn't as easy as it would seem.

**_(At that exact same moment, somewhere in Konoha)_**

"I can't believe that we are actually here," said the first man in a long black cloak with a long blade on his back.

"Konoha," said the second with the exact same outfit. "It certainly has been a while, don't you think?"

"It certainly has, I can't believe the aura here is so disturbing..."

"It feels like a ferocious battle happened here, I wouldn't be surprised if I smell the odors of both death and blood."

"You can smell it from this distance?" asked the first.

"The sense of death is certainly here," replied the second. "It really doesn't feel pleasant..."

"Just don't forget what we need to do, okay?"

"I won't, finding the Demon Hunter here wouldn't be that hard, I'm certain that he's around here somewhere."

"I wonder if the Demon Hunter actually terrorized this place?"

"I doubt it, if he did it should've been when he came back long ago, it must've been the work of a certain snake sennin..."

"You feel uncomfortable coming back here?" asked the first cloaked man.

"No, not at all." The second male then tilted his hat a bit higher to reveal a pair of complete Sharingan eyes.

**AN: Yep, it's nearly the end of the first saga of Downfall of the Light, I think I ended it there at a good time to end this chapter of the war. I'll tell you, the second part may not follow the story completely and may have different scenes of romance, action and not to mention angst. I'm not sure what I should rate the next part since the romance could be the part that may cause the ratings to increase to R. Who knows what I may do but your suggestions are always welcome so my mind could have some ideas to work with. This story is based on what you people want to see and read. If you don't say anything, you're letting others speak for you. **

Allow me to ask for the first idea:

Naruto goes on the search alone and brings back Tsunade.

Naruto searches for the Legendary Sucker with Hinata side by side.

Finally, Naruto goes alone on the mission but Hinata secretly follows him. (Stalking wise of course)

Please selection **ONE **of the following when you review! If you vote Hinata to go with him, you should be prepared that there would be a lot of mushy romance involved in the action that may take place. Hope I hear your opinions!


	19. Epilogue: Depart of Affliction

_**DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT**_

_Epilogue and Chapter 19: Depart of Affliction_

Disclaimer: For the last time, I own nothing! I don't have the right of having Naruto or Warcraft3! Man, how I wish I actually own them, then I could create anything in there that I want! Even though I don't own Naruto, I do however, own _(completely killing them with ease meaning)_ stupid cowardly scientists in HalfLife. (Takes out the 9mm Assault Rifle and the Assault Shotgun and mows the entire science team while they try to run away) That's right, that's right! That's what you get, HAHA! Look at your face, you scientist fools!

Legend:

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

(...): Either Author's Notes or scene change, you'll figure it out.

**AN: Yes, it's finally here! The final chapter as well as the epilogue of the first part of the saga! Yep, it's sure exciting to see how this first part of this war is going and now it's reaching another level of new heights. Thank you for all your honest and generous reviews, this has to be the highest amount yet, 35! Wow, these votes really make you guys write, don't you? I remember that when I asked for the Wave Country incident, around 8 out of 20 voted. This time around... whoah, what a turnout with a touch of suddenness! The votes would be displayed at the end of this chapter because I want you to read the chapter first and not spoil the future of this story. If you insist to read the votes first, I'll say this, you're ruining your own suspense! Now with that taken care of, I want to thank those who reviewed!**

I want to thank: _Dream Walker_ (Always reliable supporter), _Kaarafear_ (One who aids me in my action scenes), _Crimson-Strike_ (Meaningful encouragements that help), _One Azn Dragon_ (A true fan fiction fanatic who is true to his words), _Rainbow Neko Phoenix Hime_ (Very supportive in her own way), _DaveBoo 1378_ (You make me enjoy my work, a very worthy friend to have), _sephynarutocloud_, _chibified kitsunes_, _Father Malvaldo_, _Rurikat_, _Crutches_, _NaruSakuwoo_, _joekool_, _yourbonesakin_, _Otakuus_, _RuByMoOn17_, _Place-your-name-here_, _hyuugaman_, _Narutard55_, _jasx316_, _En Satsu Koku Ryuu Ha_, _clicke_, _cynical chaos_, _anonymous_, _Sun Hound_, _Kuwabaras Pupil and I.P.Freely_, _Night-Owl 123_,_ nonengel_, _theword_, _Xaerox_, _EmeraldBlossom_, _Gopu_, _Daniel of Lorien_, _S-Wanderer 999_, _hopefullight_, _blazer-6_, _blader-takao_, _Alexires_, _Zedrik_ and _stoictimer_!

**More AN: To those who think volume 2 is a different story, I'll tell you now it's a continuation. Until the main stuff is taken care of, I could make a time jump or something similar. The characters will remain the same characteristics. Those who thought Volume 2 is completely new plot, safely assured it won't be. The story now reaches an end... **

Naruto was still at the Hyuga estate during the morning, Hinata begged him to remain since she wanted to stay close to him at all times. Knowing that he won't be seeing her for a while, he wanted to cherish every part of it. He tugged her closer to him feeling her warmth as she placed her head on his chest sighing pleasantly. No words needed to be said, their silence and company did the task just fine. Naruto kissed her forehead gently while she radiated like a strawberry adorably after. Naruto smiled a sincere smile, deep in his mind he knew he wouldn't be able to witness this charming face for a certain time.

Later that morning, the Death Knight could tell it was the right moment to make his departure. The Hyuga girl wanted him to stay for obvious reasons but he made an excuse of saying he needed to find clothes that suited the funeral. He already knew he wasn't going to go since he needed to leave Konoha as soon as possible, the only reason he needed to return home was to pack up his money and supplies for his journey.

"Naruto-kun, do you have to leave so soon?" Hinata asked while holding his hand softly with her own. It was clear that she wanted him to remain just a bit longer. He simply smiled back.

"Yeah, I've got some preparations to deal with," lied Naruto skillfully.

"Will you pick me up later for the ceremony?"

"Sure thing," He then leaned down to kiss the gorgeous girl in front of him on the cheek. She blushed cutely at his touch and it was noticed by the dark warrior. He smiled at that display, blushing suited her so perfectly. With a farewell, Naruto left the gates and disappeared with a Blink.

"Oh, Naruto-kun..." Hinata murmured lovingly to the winds as he departed. Hanabi watched her from behind the hallway, she smiled genuinely at her sister's male guardian. The little girl couldn't help but to feel happy for her but at the same time, a sense of enviousness awakened as well. The little Hyuga wanted someone like Naruto to appreciate her as well, it was just human nature.

_**(At Naruto's apartment)**_

"Gaara-san, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto as he landed at his front door.

"Just to visit you since we all knew that you were the most injured one amongst all the genins," explained Gaara with a bit of emotion instead of a monotone. "I went to the hospital but you weren't there."

"I was being treated at the Hyuga mansion," answered Naruto taking his keys that accessed to his apartment. "Hey, you want to come in? I could use your help, my friend."

"What do you need me to help on?"

"Packing."

"What, you're going to live in another country?" asked Gaara in a real hurry. "C'mon man, just because Konoha has a lot of bad people doesn't mean you should leave. You have a lot of friends here and they need you..." He was interrupted when the Death Knight made a grip on his shoulder telling him to calm down.

"I'm just leaving for a mission, Gaara-san," said Naruto chuckling. "I just want you to accompany me before I make my departure."

"When are you leaving?" asked the Sand boy as he closed the door behind him locking it.

"Nearly immediately."

"That soon?"

"Yeah. I know it's a bit sudden."

"Don't tell me Jiraiya-sama sent you on the search and retrieve the 5th Hokage mission."

"What do you know about it?" asked the dark shinobi raising an eyebrow and offering a cup of tea.

"They said they needed a 5th Hokage as soon as possible, I suppose they would need someone to look for one. That's the only logical thing I could think of." Gaara then took a sip of it.

"I wanted you or some other people here to come along with me so I wouldn't be too alone. I heard that you volunteered your services here to protect Konoha."

"Yeah, I did. This places defenses are too low for the time being, Rin-san and I would be working on these tasks while other medics and shinobis do their jobs as well."

"The invasion must've did some wonders didn't it?" asked Naruto sarcastically as he took out a soldier type backpack and took clothing along with weapons from his room.

"It did more than most people imagined. What surprised me was that it did so much damage and the operation was unprepared."

"It's a good thing you didn't help them, Gaara-san."

"I just couldn't," answered Gaara with a grin. "That would make me sink lower than a demon."

"Don't start with such a depressing subject," advised Naruto as he placed two kunais in his weapon holster on his right thigh. "You said you would be working with Rin?"

"Yeah, that's what I said," stated the red head with his eyes narrowing a bit. "What are you getting at?"

"She's a nice person, I bet she would like a person like you,"

"You know her?"

"She's my sister." responded Naruto while putting clothes in his pack.

"I met her once before, she looks nothing like you!"

"She isn't my biological sister, we're just extremely close friends. Anyway, please take care of her for me. Sometimes she could get a bit reckless because she wants to complete her tasks too badly at times."

"Don't worry, I will. Hey, what else do you need packed?"

"Other than clothing, money, water, weapons, passport, mission info, compass, maps, medicine, sleeping gear, food, I suppose nothing else is really needed. The last I need is to bring too much stuff."

"Indeed."

"Protect Konoha well for me, okay?" asked Naruto as he patted his friend while in a friendship hug.

"No problem, Naruto." With that, Naruto exited the apartment with Gaara. After making final checks, the Death Knight leaped high to the air and Blinked to the West Gate's direction while Gaara made his way back to the temporary residence that he was living with his siblings. Gaara grinned knowing his friend was going to be safe and sound. _'Good luck, Naruto,' _thought the Sand genin before he turned his head back towards his own destination.

_**(Meanwhile, somewhere in the training areas near the hospital)**_

"I can't believe you mastered it already, Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Sakura hugging her now lover tightly in a delightful embrace. The Uchiha was shocked at the girl's impulse and blushed. (AN: Sasuke wasn't that injured, that's why he could still train, okay? But it was wise to return to the hospital afterwards)

"Yeah... but I can't breathe..."

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly softening her grip. She then kissed him on the cheek as a token of congratulations. The raven hair boy couldn't help but smile and the jounin a few feet away from them was coughing trying to get their attention.

"I really can't believe Sasuke-kun has mastered the Chidori in such a short amount of time. I was hoping that Sakura could learn it but who would've thought that you, Sasuke, beat her to it." said the masked jounin.

"With the Sharingan, this became a lot more simpler that it seemed," said the Uchiha breathing a bit tiredly. "Even so... I don't think I could use it too often..."

"You're right, this move does require a lot of chakra to perform, based on what I can see here you could only do this technique twice a day (AN: Why can't it be if he has enough chakra? If Sasuke used it two times in one hour, after like 10 hours of rest, don't you think he has enough chakra to use it again?), or three times at absolute maximum. I could use this only 5 times a day myself."

"Only 3 times for Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura. "Is that enough?"

"It's still incredible for a person at his age to be able to use this jutsu, Sakura," reminded Kakashi. "Well, looks like Sasuke here really put himself at his limits this morning. Go home and have some rest, you don't want to be completely wasted when the ceremony begins this afternoon." Suddenly, the jounin's visible eye glanced at a particular direction, his face suddenly darkened and the genins noticed this unexpected change.

"Is something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sasuke in a low voice.

"You seem like you've seen a ghost," added Sakura.

"It's nothing," replied Kakashi putting a fake smile as he took out a familiar novel. "Sorry to worry you, I have a small report to make so I'll see you guys later." With that, the masked man disappeared in a flash.

"Does he always come in and out like that?" asked the Uchiha to his girlfriend.

"Not usually..." answered Sakura with her eyes twitching as she remembered the new volume of Icha Icha Paradise Kakashi was reading before he left.

"Looks like we're alone."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere with you, my Sakura."

"How about we go and have another breakfast? I'm starved from this training."

"Sounds like a plan," said the Uchiha taking her hand gently and kissing her smoothly on the lips. She flushed slightly at this. "C'mon let's go." Together, Sasuke and Sakura went to the central district of Konoha to where the real good food was. They wanted to cherish their moments just like how Naruto would want to with Hinata.

_**(At the West Gate of Konoha)**_

The Death Knight made his way to the large gates minutes later due to his speed, he was surprised that he found no one guarding the area. There was one but he seemed to be sleeping. Naruto raised his eyebrow in a questioning way, he couldn't believe there were such slacks in Konoha. As he walked to the guard, he realized this person was a person he met before.

"Gekkou Hayate?" Naruto said in disbelief. Then he looked at the not so promising in health jounin and felt his pulse. Luckily, he had a pulse so Naruto could tell he was alive. _'His health must've really gotten to him,' _thought Naruto as he grinned in an entertaining way. Somehow, he felt a slight uneasiness about Hayate's unconsciousness. He quickly activated his eyes and leered with amusement. He sensed traces of chakra behind, it must've been a genjutsu. However, when he sensed the chakra once again he figured who had done this.

_'Itachi-sempai must be here,'_ thought Naruto glancing back to the village scanning with his eyes. _'I could tell this was one of his work, I wonder what he's doing here though. If he came to look for me, I'm sure he would find me sooner or later. Well, meeting him in Konoha wouldn't be the wisest thing to do due his reputation here. At the same time, I shouldn't delay this mission by returning to find him. No matter, I'm sure it would be safer if he found me in the outskirts of Konoha.'_

The dark shinobi then read the notice that was nailed to the command post, it said IMPORTANT (AN: In Japanese of course) in big words. He decided to read it.

"To all Konoha civilians," Naruto read out loud. "When you leave this place, make sure you register with the guard that is on duty to ensure you have access back in. People with no proof or evidence that they belong to Konoha will not be able to enter without any excuse or reasoning. This rule applies to ninjas as well. If shinobis bring back a foreign person from another location, make sure to show your mission briefings so the guards know you were on a mission. Not only that, the foreigner must be the same person in the briefings. Tourists and visitors may not enter here for the time being unless from direct order from the Kages or mission. Please make sure you sign your name before you leave or we wouldn't hesitate to put anyone in the missing-nin category. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, this is for the safety of Konoha."

Naruto sighed as he took a pen from Hayate and snatched the clipboard next to him that said Entry List. He signed his name on it and placed the clipboard back at the command post. The next minute, he vanished as he melded into the shadows.

**_(At the exact same moment, at the side of the Konoha River)_**

"Why are you even here?" asked Kakashi with a dangerous aura developing. "There is no way that we could just allow you, Uchiha Itachi, to leave this place unnoticed."

"You are S-class missing nins," Kurenai stated firmly. "We are obligated to take you back, we won't just hesitate just because you said you want to avoid trouble."

"You have a lot of guts showing up here, Uchiha Itachi," snarled Asuma readying himself for combat. "You really don't value yourself after what you did to the Uchiha clan."

"Kakashi-san, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," said Itachi calmly with no slight hint of fear. "I wish not to fight any of you, please let us go by in peace."

"Think again," growled Kakashi. "You could demand that in your dreams."

"Hey, Itachi-san," said Kisame in a bored voice. "Can I deal with these people?"

"No, your moves stand out too much."

"We're not letting you pass," Kurenai declared cautiously. "That's final."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Looks like it is," said Kisame smirking.

"We're sticking with it," said Asuma.

"Fine, you made me do this..." It was then when the Uchiha activated the Sharingan in the highest level. Kakashi immediately revealed his Sharingan knowing what kind of technique Itachi was planning to do. Kakashi's eyes widened in both fear and alert, this wasn't good at all.

"You two, close your eyes immediately!" ordered Kakashi as he glared into Itachi's eyes with his own Sharingan. Kurenai and Asuma promptly shut their eyes and waited for further orders. As Kakashi continued to stare deeply, a sense of amusement was striking the Uchiha.

_'It's useless...' _thought Itachi coldly while smiling in a sinister manner. The next second, a tortured scream could be heard a mile away.

**_(That current early afternoon after the Hokage's Funeral)_**

"Hi, Hinata-san," called Sakura to her teammate with Sasuke tagging along.

"Hi, Sakura-san," replied Hinata with disappointment in her voice. Sasuke raised an eyebrow by a little at her voice. "How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks and Sasuke-kun is fine too. What about you?"

"A little bit down..."

"Are you still upset about the Third's death?" asked Sasuke in a friendly concerned tone.

"He died a proud man, he doesn't want us to feel that way." Sakura kindly reminded.

"No, it's not about that," said Hinata shaking her head. "It's just that Naruto-kun didn't show up at the ceremony... he promised that he'll be here with me."

"That's strange..." mumbled the Uchiha observing the crowd. "There's no way Naruto would miss out on an important event such as this one. Have you guys found something else funny?"

"What could that be, Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei weren't here either..."

"Why weren't they here?"

"I have no idea... but I got a feeling that this is no coinsidence."

"Do you think the 4 jounins that are missing have something to do with Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"I can't safely assume that just yet, Hinata-san, but I think we should check on what happened to the jounins first."

"Why not Naruto-ni-chan?" suggested Sakura.

"That guy isn't a person who you could just find because you want to, you have know how he thinks and I'm sure that not even Hinata-san knows completely." Hinata playfully punched the Uchiha in the shoulder making a cute pout. "Okay, sorry... but we all know he ain't your average guy."

"Agreed," said the Hyuga heiress. "Let's look for Kakashi-sensei." The other two nodded and searched Konoha for the jounins. Things were strange, first Naruto and now the jounins.

_**(Meanwhile at the outskirts of Konoha)**_

"The Demon Hunter is certainly quick," said the first cloaked man. "He already left the village to a fair distance in a short amount of time. He's lot faster than the last time we met him, eh, Itachi-san?"

"Agreed," said the second cloaked man with the pair of Sharingan eyes. "That boy is really full of surprises, I don't know how he does it."

"Nonetheless, we have to find him soon and tell him about the mission we just received."

"I really don't know how to break it to him, Kisame," said Itachi sighing. "This mission could cost us our identities as undercover spies which we can't afford. At the same time, we can't just complete it..."

"We have to discuss it with him then," said Kisame seriously.

"For the first time, I'm out of ideas..."

"I'm sure that he sensed our chakras while we were in Konoha, I wonder why he didn't meet up with us then? It's certainly a lot easier that way."

"That may be true but the easy way isn't the safe way," corrected the older Uchiha. "I'm sure the boy led us out here so we could encounter him in a secure way. You do know Konoha is hunting me."

"Maybe we shouldn't have fought those jounins back there," suggested Kisame with a grin.

"I needed to have a bit of fun," said Itachi grinning as well.

"And back there you said you wished to be left alone..." Kisame then shook his head in an amused way.

"I'm a man with a second story, no one believes my first." The Mist-nin chuckled a bit at his humor.

"Enough silliness, Itachi-san, we need to get going."

"Agreed." With that the two missing-nins quickly leaped from their high spot to the forests following the trail that the Demon Hunter they were searching for.

_**(At the same moment)**_

Naruto found himself at a loud town about 2 hours' worth of travel. It was about eight to fifteen kilometers away from Konoha. It seemed there was a huge social event took place, normally a person would consider themselves lucky but the Death Knight didn't. The last he wanted was loudness and yelling because people were happy. To him, this kind of rowdiness wasn't necessary, it was pure annoying to the core. (AN: In real life, I hate people yelling because they are happy for minor things. It's purely irritating) Regardless, this town would be a good place to rest but there was just one problem. He didn't need to stop yet, he found that his body was still quite refreshed. Just when he thought that he would go past this town and keep going, something clicked into his head.

**_(Flashback)_**

"If you want to search for a specific person," explained Jiraiya to Rin and Naruto when they were 10. "Always go into a town and ask people at places that a lot people go to. The chances of getting the information there is surprisingly higher. There are a lot of gossips and rumors in towns that may be prove useful, this kind of opportunity should never be discarded." The two then nodded promptly with a smile.

_**(End Flashback)**_

With that thought reminded, Naruto decided to stay in this place for a while. He opened the map and read a small detail about this town. All he needed was the population and he could estimate the size of this place. By the looks of it, it may take him about a day to venture the main locations carefully. He entered the town without trouble since it wasn't a hidden village and decided to make way to a bar since he knew Tsunade loved to drink. He never liked bars knowing what kind of people could be there. He allowed a breath of air escape, at times there were just things on missions that no one could avoid.

_**(Currently in Konoha)**_

"What the hell did you say?" asked Sasuke holding Gai by the collar with his Sharingan activated with maximum rage. The jounins sighed at Gai's arrogance except for Kakashi who was unconscious.

"Can you please let go of me?" Gai asked nervously.

"No!"

"Sasuke-kun, let go of Gai-sensei!" pleaded Sakura trying to pry his arms off the collar.

"Calm down, Sasuke-kun..." said Hinata. "Killing Gai-sensei now won't do you any good..."

"How do you expect me to calm down when I hear the name Uchiha Itachi?" questioned the Uchiha in a snarl. He then released the jounin hastily. "Why are you so calm anyway, Hinata-san? Didn't you hear what he said just now? Itachi is after Naruto!" Hinata's face suddenly was drained of colour, a sense of worry suddenly came across her expression.

"What are we going to do?" screamed Hinata shocking the jounins in an instant. "What would Uchiha Itachi do to Naruto-kun?"

"How would I know?" Sasuke growled angrily since the girl was shaking him.

"We won't know if we keep standing here," said Sakura breaking the two apart.

"I'm going to find Naruto-kun," said the heiress rushing out of the room filled with worry. "I'm going with or without you."

"What are you talking about, I'm coming alright!" Sasuke and Sakura both dashed off in a flash. Kurenai and Asuma flashed Gai a glare immediately as the genins left, the Konoha green beast couldn't help but avoid their gaze awkwardly. He knew he messed up big time.

"Why must things turn out like this?" asked Kurenai sighing deeply in annoyance.

"Should we catch up with them?" asked Asuma carefully not wanting to tick the female jounin off anymore than she already was.

"I don't know..." she replied as she glanced at Kakashi. "This is really bad... First the Third... now Kakashi is like this. I'm so lost..."

"We all are," said Asuma comforting his friend. "Let's hope Kakashi wakes up soon."

_**(Meanwhile)**_

"Hey kid, you're not allowed in here," called the bartender as Naruto entered. Naruto mentally cursed himself for forgetting to make a henge before entering. Even though he was 5 feet and 4 inches, his looks didn't make him look like at least a very mature teen.

"Sorry, I just want to ask you something," said Naruto showing signs he wasn't here to drink. "I'll leave afterwards."

"What do you need then?" asked the bartender signaling him to come closer.

"I want to ask you if you have seen this person," The Death Knight then took out a picture of Tsunade from the one of his folders. "It would be really helpful if you tell me." The man looked at the picture carefully for an exceptionally long time. The dark shinobi could tell that bartender was attracted by her beauty. _'I could tell this man is a pervert...'_ Naruto told himself mentally in a dark expression.

"Sorry kiddo," said the man in an apologetic tone about a minute later. "I don't think I could help you." Naruto frowned a bit but remained his smile nonetheless.

"Thanks for saying so." He then asked a few other people but still achieved no result that showed satisfaction. He sighed in defeat and hoped he would have better luck on the next bar.

_**(About an hour to 3 hours later after going to another 3 to 5 bars)**_

'_This place is a lot bigger than I imagined it to be...'_ thought the Death Knight feeling a bit hot from the sun. It wouldn't have been such a big deal but he was wearing black clothing. _'Who knows where Tsunade could've went to in this town. I'm sure she was here at some point, I'm not going to rest until I at least have an idea as of where to look next.' _He then wiped a sweat from his forehead. _'Damn, carrying this pack around with me isn't too wise... I do intend to spend the day here, I might as well find a place to stay so I could drop this stuff off.' _He then found an appealing motel and registered there. He went to his room that was room 223 and dropped off his stuff. The Death Knight then lied down on the bed with a sad look.

_'It sure feels different without Hinata-chan hugging me all night...'_ thought Naruto as he allowed his eyes to drift to the ceiling staring at it trying to imagine Hinata smiling. _'Should I have left so suddenly? I know Hina-chan wouldn't be pleased at this. I'll just say I was under orders and it couldn't be helped... I can't believe I miss her already. I'm sure she would feel the same way.'_ Naruto then got off his bed and opened the soldier type backpack to look for some instant ramen, it had been a few hours since he left. It was around the mid afternoon at that time.

As he poured hot water into the cup of noodles, he heard knocking on the door. He activated his eyes immediately knowing that no one would be looking for him. As he noticed the two extremely high chakra levels outside, he grinned as an immediate result. He opened the door just to see two figures in black cloaks somewhat towering over him. The Death Knight simply smirked at the visitors, especially the one with the red eyes with no emotion of passion whatsoever.

"It has been a while, hasn't it Demon Hunter?" asked Itachi coolly. Kisame smirked at his friend's attitude, it was something that was traditional between the two.

"Indeed, Itachi-sempai," Naruto returned with the same attitude with a grin. Then he turned to Kisame with a delightful smile. "Kisame-sempai, I missed you as well."

"Looks like you've grown up nicely, Naruto," said Kisame ruffling the boy's hair. "You sure have grown a lot taller than before." Naruto simply allowed his sempai to do that, it was something he always did when he was still a boy.

"Your cold attitude sure hasn't changed," said Itachi with amusement. "How are you supposed to get girls like that? It works for a while but later on... it's gonna be a turn off."

"I'm like this not because of girls, Itachi-sempai," said Naruto not thinking that joke was funny in anyway. "You can thank those bastards in Konoha for this."

"I was just teasing you, Demon Hunter," said Itachi backing a bit. "Don't take it so personally."

"Sorry, sempai..." said Naruto. "It's just that I don't like my attitude to be mocked."

"I should be the one sorry, Naruto," Itachi then bent down to his level. "You want your sempai to make it up to you?"

"I wasn't a child like that a long time ago, sempai," stated the Death Knight with a smile. "There's no need for you to do that."

"C'mon, you always liked that before."

"I've grown out of it..."

"I noticed."

"Itachi-san, we aren't here to have a reunion," reminded Kisame. "We need to tell him 'that'." At this point, the dark shinobi suddenly was alerted. He met the Mist-nin's eyes with his own demanding the info.

"What do you need to tell me, Kisame-sempai?" asked Naruto calmly but a bit anxious to know what this gathering was all about.

"It's about a mission we received two days ago," explained Kisame. "You are involved in it."

"Does that organization want me to complete some task for them? I have nothing to do with the Akatsuki."

"It's not that," said Itachi trying to use the best words he could gather.

"Then what is it?"

"The organization wants you," finished Kisame rather bluntly which earned a glare from Itachi. "That's what they want. They want us to take you back to them." Naruto smiled darkly.

"They just want Kyubi's power don't they?" asked Naruto already knowing the answer. "What a bunch of greedy cowards..." The two older shinobis breathed in frustration. "What are your plans? Are you going to take me back to them? Are you going to follow your task or not?"

"Of course we don't want to, Naruto," said Itachi in an irritated voice but not at the boy.

"But how long can you two make up excuses?"

"We could for a long time, they know that you're extremely powerful because of your Death Knight abilities and your ability to hunt down demons," Kisame noted.

"However, after a certain amount of time, the organization would expect results." Itachi reminded which Naruto was inclined to agree.

"I'll destroy that Akatsuki..." growled Naruto angrily.

"Don't even think about doing something that stupid," said Kisame holding the boy on the left shoulder with one hand calming him down. "Even though you're strong, you don't stand a chance against the leaders. Itachi-san and I have been in that organization for some years now, we know we aren't considered a challenge."

"Are the main leaders that powerful?" asked Naruto in quite of a disbelief tone.

"They are, trust me. What are you doing out here anyway?"

"I've got a classified mission to deal with." Naruto stated dully.

"What is it about?"

"Finding the 5th Hokage... my big sister..." Kisame's face paled, he remembered that woman, she had to be one of the most 'unique' person he and Itachi had ever met. She might be very attractive (AN: Mostly because of her massive cleavage), but her temper made the two realize why she was still single.

They looked at Itachi who had been quiet for some time now. His eyes changed emotions, the remaining two knew something was up. Naruto then sensed a raging aura nearby, Itachi must've noticed this before him, the older Uchiha wasn't his sempai for nothing.

"It has been a while..." Itachi spoke in a cold tone. "Sasuke."

"Uchiha... Itachi..." Sasuke announced his name in a threatening tone with his Sharingan activated. Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance, why did he have to show up? This was unnecessary. However, he nearly jerked back when he saw Hinata and Sakura behind him. This was definitely not called for.

'_Why is Hinata-chan here? Sakura-chan as well... what in the hell is going on here?'_

"The Sharingan," said Kisame amused. "This is the second person that I've seen that has them. Hey, Itachi-san, he looks kind of like you, who is he anyway?"

"My little brother." Itachi stated with his back turned to the younger Uchiha. Sakura and Hinata's eyes widened at that fact. They were shocked to hear another Uchiha was alive but now they nearly gasped in fear knowing this was Sasuke's brother. They knew someone committed the Uchiha massacre years ago but they never figured out who it was. A sudden sense of realization hit the two girls, the reason why Sasuke was showing such a forceful sense of hostility that he never appealed to anyone else before, this man must be the person Sasuke longed to exterminate from existence.

"Uchiha Itachi, I'm going to kill you..." Sasuke said in a much more dangerous tone. Hinata and Sakura slowly took a step back giving the raven hair boy some space. It was then when Sasuke gathered much chakra into his left hand that it began to radiate. "For many years I have hated you... I have lived a pitiful and low life just like you said..." It was then when his hand was filled with enraging chakra. "And I have survived!"

'_Chidori?'_ thought Itachi with hidden signs of proud feeling for his brother.

'_What kind of jutsu is that?'_ thought Naruto as he sensed the Chidori's strength was extremely high. It wasn't your normal jutsus that anyone could just learn. _'It's as strong as my Rasengan...'_ It was then when Sasuke angrily plowed the Chidori on the side wall making a deep dent and charged towards the three aiming at Itachi.

"Sasuke-kun, no!" shouted Sakura. However, the Uchiha just kept his dash and increased his movement with a loud battle cry.

"Die!" Sasuke reached out his fully charged arm ready to sink into Itachi's flesh. However, the older Uchiha simply grabbed Sasuke's arm and held it in a tight firm grip halting the Chidori completely. As Itachi stopped it, the Chidori struck the wall creating a powerful explosion causing a large hole. Sasuke winced in anger when he still found himself too weak to kill Itachi.

'_When will you know the real truth...'_ thought Itachi sadly when he saw the pain in his brother's eyes. He wanted to tell him the incident wasn't like how it seemed. He wanted to clear things up but it was classified information until the time was right to reveal it. _'Little brother... you've become strong, I want you to remain strong and seek your true purpose in life.'_

"Knock him out..." whispered Naruto in a very silent voice to his Uchiha sempai. It was obvious he wasn't making eye contact. "I don't want any of them to know anymore details of the mission I have."

"What about the girls?" asked Kisame just as quietly.

"Deal with Sasuke first but don't use those eyes of yours..." Naruto commanded with a flash of his own deadly eyes that rivaled the Sharingan's. "Don't hurt Hinata-chan or Sakura-chan, got it?" Itachi then forcefully lifted the younger Uchiha in the position they were at before and glared into each other's eyes. One cold, one enraged.

"You still have a long way to go, little brother..." Itachi declared coldly as he punched Sasuke heavily in the gut making him vomit. Sakura gasped just like how Hinata did, at that instant Itachi launched a power kick at the boy's ribs sending him off crashing to the wall behind Hinata and Sakura. As Sasuke slid and hit the ground powerlessly, the girls could tell he was unconscious.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata angrily. "What are you doing standing with those guys that hurt Sasuke-kun? Attack them! Are you on their side too?"

"Naruto-ni-chan, do something would you?" urged Sakura in a desperate voice.

"There's no need for me to do that." Naruto replied coolly.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Hinata demanded for an answer.

"What I'm doing right now is none of your concern, Hinata!" snapped the Death Knight stepping forward. The Hyuga girl was shocked that he didn't add that suffix in her name, Naruto never did that. It was then when she saw his eyes shining with cold rage. "Get out of here, now!"

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"Ni-chan, why have you betrayed us?" asked Sakura holding Sasuke in the verge of tears.

"I haven't betrayed anyone," Naruto declared in a solemn voice. "Take Sasuke back to the hospital, I'll explain everything later, I'll keep my word."

"Come back with us, Naruto-kun," pleaded Hinata wanting to cry. "Please... you don't have to stay here."

"Get going!" Naruto demanded harshly. Deep down he hated to yell at her and Sakura but he knew he had to, not only that the truth of Itachi and Kisame couldn't be revealed here, Naruto's mission wasn't something that he could tell to the open. Hinata aided Sakura in lifting the unconscious Uchiha but gave Naruto a very saddened look before she left. The Death Knight avoided her look trying real hard to keep a straight face.

"Naruto-ni-chan..." Sakura was now crying. "I can't believe you!" She then turned away with a crushed expression. Naruto grimaced and averted her face deliberately.

"Please come back to me soon... Naruto-kun..." whispered the heiress before disappearing within the three's vision along with Sakura. _'I will come back, Hinata-chan...'_ thought the Death Knight painfully. _'I promise...'_

"You okay, Naruto?" asked Kisame breaking the silence a minute later with a bit of concern. The boy wiped a bit of tears that were in his eyes before giving his sempai a forced smile.

"I'll be okay..." replied the dark warrior obviously in emotional pain.

"Those people mean a lot to you don't they?" asked Itachi knowingly. Naruto simply nodded.

"You love that Hyuga, don't you?" Kisame asked him understandingly. Naruto nodded once again.

"Take care of Sasuke for me, okay?" Naruto nodded slowly with a smile.

"Itachi-sempai, Kisame-sempai... I don't think I could stay here for much longer after this commotion," said Naruto sadly. "It'll be best if I continue my search now."

"If you are looking for Tsunade-chan," said Itachi reaching something in his black cloak. "I think this would help you a bit." He then handed the Death Knight a piece of paper.

"What is this, sempai?" Naruto asked as he received it.

"Information about a city," elaborated Kisame pointing to a spot on the map. "This is a place where gambling often takes place. You could say that at parts of that town is a 24 hour casino and night clubs."

"I really don't want to go there..." _'Night clubs for 24 hours? What kind of infested town is that? I'd bet Jiraiya would love to go there...'_

"We've heard something from a gambler about the Legendary Sucker showing up there," said Itachi knowing his apprentice mind. "It's only rational to seek info there. If any luck, she could still be there." Naruto slid the map into his pocket with a smile of gratitude, his sempais already made the task that much easier.

"Are there any key monuments that I could tell that is the town I am looking for?" asked the boy. Itachi and Kisame were impressed at his readiness and sharp judgement.

"There is a large gray castle there at a higher hill," Kisame stated. "It should be quite easy to spot." Naruto then made a satisfied grin. This was just perfect.

"Will you be accompanying me on this thing?"

"I don't think so, Demon Hunter," said Itachi a bit apologetically. "We aren't people who should show our faces at a place such as that. Looks like you have to do it alone."

"No problem," said Naruto reassuringly. "Your info was all I need." He then took his backpack from his room and bid a short farewell. "It was great seeing you two again, I hope next time it wouldn't be that troublesome."

"Same here," Kisame stated as he ruffled the boy's hair one last time.

"Good luck, Naruto." Itachi simply said but the dark warrior didn't mind.

"I'll see you later." Naruto made a goodbye signal. With a hand seal formed, all three of them disappeared in a flash leaving the hotel in the same condition it was at.

As the Death Knight reached outside, he immediately dashed his way out of this town and ventured further down in the west knowing Tsunade was out there somewhere. He needed to accomplish this quickly knowing his loving girlfriend was waiting for him. Not only that he needed to finish this task for himself, the future of Konoha rested on his shoulders, there was no way that he could fail for failure wasn't an option. As he thought of an image of Hinata, Sakura and the others, he knew he had no time to waste. He soon leaped high into the sky and vanished in the thin air leaving no traces behind.

_Volume 1 End._

**AN: This is finally the end, the first chapter of Volume 2 will be here shortly. I hope all of you will be patient enough to wait for it since school would be starting on the 7th. If I'm quick, I could type a 7K first chapter before then so I could satisfy your hungry needs for Anime fantasy. I need this to keep myself from the horrors of reality. As mentioned in the past, the new chapters would come out by every 2 to 3 weeks since you all know I got the sick reality of school. Yep, school is a true living hell. School is bullshit, I don't ever remember signing up for something like that shit. This crazy man, this is bullshit, this is really shit! Okay, enough of my ranting and I got that line from Heart of Evil, an excellent HalfLife mod! Screw Counter Strike! (To all those CS fans out there, sorry, I think that game encourages too much inappropriate bad mouth insults that go too far when you mess up, like get real, no one is perfect! Those people online always think they are so good and all that shit, it was a major turn down for me. Just because I play Opposing Force and TFC, doesn't mean I don't know how to own others on CS. Am I declaring a challenge? Of course not, I don't have the time on my hands) **

**Here are the results of the votes! Total number of votes, 38. I know that this isn't the only amount of people that read my story, I know most people didn't bother to give in a suggestion. 38 is still a good number to me!**

Number of votes for the boy going alone on the search: _15_

Number of votes for Naruto allowing Hinata to be here willingly: _7_

Number of votes that Hinata secretly follows the Death Knight: _16_

**_The votes are in as you all can see, the story stands where it is. 3rd choice wins! What a close one, number 1 was coming in like a rush on the second day! Nearly all of you voted, I'm so glad for that. In the beginning of the second volume, expect a bit of disobedience from Hinata for she will tail him. You people really want a living hell for the boy don't you? Your choice in making the heiress following means a hell lot of trouble for Naruto trying to control himself from her attractiveness. Since she is tailing him, it makes the plot so much more interesting. I wonder why some of you would want the Death Knight to take her willingly? He wants to hug her and kiss her while she is ready to take on new heights. The last thing he needs on this mission is to be tempted to make love with her, the girl really wants him as you all know. For all consistent readers, this boy is avoiding that matter deliberately while the girl is taking step by step closer each time. You can say she lets her real self expose to the one she loves, she's still shy and timid so don't worry about her losing her qualities. Did I make Hinata too forward? A little, but she does love him, she would only do it for him. _**

**_The next volume would have these four main genres: Romance, Drama, Action/Adventure and Angst. There will be votes similar to this one in later on chapters! Now, I thank you all for your sincere and generous support, your words have made my writing career very enjoyable. Those who reviewed in the past, I haven't forgotten you and I mean it honestly. As a final note, I wish you all writers out there the best of luck on your fiction! Until the next time my friends, I'll be seeing you on the second saga! This is OpposingForce, over and out._**


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